Heros in the Past, Children of Honor
by hatashikitty
Summary: A story about the turtles when they are younger, and growing up with a whole different world happening above them. They meet a young woman who helps them when they're in trouble and also introdueces them to the human's culture.
1. Chapter 1: Lost

_New York City. Population exceeding more than seven million people moving all over with thousands of cars, trucks and buses, trying to get from one point to the other. The city never stops moving, always busy, only noticing what's going on in their lives and never looking out for others. A heartless and uncaring world, if you're a human. But for me and my brothers, it was dangerous. We were forbidden by our father to go topside, to disobey him would mean an unspeakably horrible punishment. He would often tell us that if the humans were to find out about us, they would take us away and put us in cages. They wouldn't understand us, they would think we were monsters. I always thought that in a city of seven million people, who would even notice one little turtle._

Heros in the Past, Children of Honor

Chapter one: Lost

By Hatashi Kitty

"Splinter, come watch me. I can do a back flip."

"I'm coming."

A small green hand grabbed a gray furred paw, and pulled, trying to make his father move faster.

"Patience, Leonardo," the wise rat told his pupil, who ran ahead to the den.

Leonardo jumped over his younger brother, Raphael, who was stretching out his legs on the floor. "Raphy, watch me. I can do a back flip," he shouted, and turned to his brother and master, who finally made it. "Are you watching?"

"Yes, I'm watching. Go ahead," Splinter said with a smile.

Leonardo raised his hands up, and jumped backwards on his hands then his feet. The ends of the blue bandanna flopped in his face after he landed, so he wiped them away. "Ta da," he announced happily, raising his hands in the air like an Olympic champion.

"Very good, my son."

"I can do it too, Splinter," the young turtle with a red bandanna shouted, pushing his older brother out of the spotlight. "Watch me!" Like his brother, Raphael back-flipped, then looked to his father for a compliment.

"Excellent, Raphael. Both of you are doing well," Splinter praised. Just then, something tugged at his sleeve. Looking down, he saw two big eyes looked up at him over a ragged teddy bear. He knelt down to speak to the shyest of his four sons. "What is it, Donatello?"

"I can't do a back flip, but I can almost. You want to see?" Donatello asked quietly.

"I'd be happy to see," Splinter told his son, patting the little turtle on the head.

Donatello lowered the bear, revealing a big grin. He dropped it at his father's feet, and ran to his brothers. He tried to copy their production, except very slowly. He wobbled a little and almost didn't land on his feet. Donatello could hear his brothers laugh softly, and lowered his head. "I'm sorry, Splinter," he apologized, embarrassed he wasn't as good as Raphael and Leonardo.

"It's alright, my son. You will get it with practice," Splinter reassured his son, who brightened up right away, and went to retrieve his bear.

"My turn! My turn!" the youngest of the brothers shouted, running through Leonardo and Raphael to get to his father. "I can do it, too." Michelangelo raised his arms up sloppily, and flipped without any balance. When he was landing on his hands, he slipped, and he fell onto his back. "Ouch!" the young turtle cried out, tears flooding out of his eyes. His brothers laughed loudly, making him cry even more.

Splinter walked over to his youngest, and picked up the crying turtle. "Oh, Michelangelo. How many times must I tell you to look before you leap?" Splinter let the turtle cry a little more, patting him on the back to calm him down. "Come my, sons," he called to the others. "It is time for your afternoon training." Still holding Michelangelo, Splinter lead his students to the practice room where he taught them. Afternoon training consisted of simple questions and demonstrating basic positions and moves. He didn't expect much from his young students. Even at four years old, the turtle children learned quickly, but their attention span was too short for real training. It would be a few more years before they were ready for the real thing.

After Splinter stopped, the three sat down at his feet. The rat set down his youngest, who was still sniffling and wiping away the tears. Next to Michelangelo, Donatello put an arm around his brother. Splinter had to smile at the tenderness the brothers showed to one another. Their closeness made them strong.

Picking up his stick, the teacher looked at his students. "What is a ninja, my students?" he asked, tapping his stick against the stone floor.

Raphael's hand shot up and waved around. "I know, Sensei. I know." When his master nodded to him, he took a deep breath and announced proudly, "A ninja is a warrior."

"Yes, and what else? Leonardo?" Splinter pointed to the next hand.

"A ninja is honorable."

"Yes. Donatello, what is a ninja?"

The purple bandanna turtle hugged his bear tighter and said softly, "Ninja's come from Japan."

"Not all of them, stupid," Raphael shouted. "Sensei's a ninja."

"Raphael, don't talk to your brother that way," Splinter berated the outspoken son. "Donatello is half right. Ninja's originated in Japan, but in this time they have gone to other countries. Next time, Raphael, raise your hand if you want to say something."

Raphael curled his legs under his chin from the harsh words of his teacher. He lowered his head, and said quietly, "Yes, Sensei."

"Michelangelo, do you know anything else about ninja's?"

The young turtle twisted his face, trying to remember anything suitable as a ninja. "Um. . .they help people."

Splinter smiled at this answer, but was also sad. How could he tell them that not all ninjas are as good as his sons believe? He just sighed, and patted the young turtle's head. "You have a good heart, my son. Please, stand up. Do you all remember the defense position I taught you yesterday?"

As one, they all answered, "Yes, Sensei."

"But before we position ourselves, what do we do?"

"We bow down," Michelangelo answered quickly before anyone else could. To demonstrate, he put his arms to his side and bowed lowly to Splinter.

"Excellent, Michelangelo. Why do you bow? Leonardo?"

"It's to show our masters and our opponents respect?" the eldest recited, bowing as well.

"Correct," Splinter praised, and bowed to his pupils. "Now we can begin."

* * *

"Donatello, straighten your arm. Michelangelo, do not let your attention wander. Leonardo, don't loose your balance. Raphael, don't tighten your muscles so much. You should stay lose and not wear yourself out."

As one, four little turtles mimicked simple moves that their teacher was demonstrating. Slowly and precisely, Splinter walked them through a few basic positions, and talked to them about the inner self. But it wasn't long before even his most devoted son was looking tired and bored.

"That's enough for today, my sons," Splinter told them, bowing to them.

The four young turtles bowed solemnly, then collapsed with a sigh.

"Splinter, can we go play now?" Michelangelo asked, dropping the formal "sensei" when addressing his father.

"Yes, my sons," the rat relented.

With a whoop of excitement, they jumped up and ran to the lair exit.

"But first, what are the rules?"

They all froze in their steps, turning around slowly at the mention of the rules.

"Don't go too far," Leonardo recited.

"Don't go into any tunnels that are boarded up," Donatello added, hiding behind his stuffed toy.

"Don't go into the water," Raphael muttered, rolling his eyes.

"And. . .um. . .," Michelangelo stuttered, sticking out his tongue in concentration.

"And never go up to the surface," Splinter finished in a loud voice which made the turtles shirk back. "That is the most important rule. You must promise that you'll never go up there."

"We promise," four tiny voices said in a singsong voice.

"Alright, go my sons. And be back in time for dinner."

"We will," Leonardo called back as he followed Raphael and Michelangelo who wrestled each other for the lead, tailed by Donatello with his teddy bear flopping around.

Splinter sighed, shaking his head at his young sons. They were too innocent and naive to understand the perils of the city above them. But for now, they will be safe. He sat down in a lotus position to begin his routine meditate.

* * *

"Come on. Push harder, Raphy."

"No, you push harder, Mikey."

"It's too heavy, guys," Leonardo told them, climbing down the small ladder to the manhole cover.

"Man, if only we were a little stronger," Raphael yelled, jumping down as well. "I wonder what's up there?"

"I bet there's piles and piles of candy," Michelangelo guessed excitedly.

"Why would Splinter say we couldn't go up there if there's just candy?" Raphael yelled at his younger brother. "I bet there's a bunch of monsters, waiting for turtles to come out of the sewers so they can eat them."

Donatello and Michelangelo gasped in horror at the mental image that perforated into their innocent minds.

"Don't scare them, Raphy," Leonardo yelled and hit the red bandanna turtle over the head. "There's no such things as monsters. Besides, there's probably ninjas. Tons of them practicing their skills and helping people."

"You're all wrong," Donatello told them matter-of-factly behind the blank stare of his bear. "It's a city full of humans. That's it."

"How do you know, Donny?" Michelangelo asked, hanging on his older brother's arm.

"I asked Splinter," Donatello answered simply. "He told me that's where all the humans live."

"What are humans?" Michelangelo asked, looking at all his brothers.

"They're giant monsters who eat turtles," Raphael told him, holding his hand up scarily.

"Liar."

"Do you guys remember those books with pictures with the weird creatures?" Leonardo asked, speaking as much like Splinter as he could. He waited for his siblings to nod their heads. "Those must be what humans look like."

"They don't look so scary," Michelangelo said to himself, trying to remember the pictures.

"I can't wait until we can go up there," Raphael shouted. "It's going to be so cool."

All his brothers nodded.

"This is boring. Let's play Hide-and-go-Seek," Michelangelo suggested. "One two three, not It!"

"Not It," Raphael and Donatello automatically yelled.

Just a moment behind his brothers, Leonardo shouted, "Not It!" but was too slow.

"Leo's It," Rapheal laughed. He started running down the sewer path. "You have to close your eyes and count to twenty. C'mon, let's go."

Pouting as he turned around and covered his eyes, Leonardo started counting as loud as he could. "One. . .Two. . .Three. . ."

"Twenty!" After his echoed died, Leonardo stayed still for a while. Out of all his brothers, he had the most patience. He stood very quiet for a few seconds, listening for any noise. After a while, he heard footsteps. Running as fast as his little turtle feet could go, Leonardo followed the sound through the tunnels. It didn't take him long to spot a purple bandanna sticking from behind a pipe.

"I see you, Donny," Leonardo called out, racing for his brother.

After hearing his name, Donatello jumped up and ran, starting the first chase of the game. It didn't take long for the elder brother to catch his sibling.

"I caught you," Leonardo yelled, and slapped his brother on the shell. "You have to go back to the lair."

"Ahhhh," Donatello whined, and shuffled back down the tunnel.

From there, Leonardo started looking in all the regular hiding spaces in the tunnels Splinter let them go in. He didn't have to look very hard, floating down one of the pipes came a song softly being sung by a bored child.

"John Jacob Jingleheimer Smidt. His name is my name, too."

"Found you, Mikey," Leonardo called out, tugging at the ends of Michelangelo's bandanna.

"Hey, I didn't even get to run."

"You should be quieter than. Now go back until I find Raphy."

Full of determination, Leonardo ran up and down the tunnels searching for his last brother, but patience wasn't a virtue children possess at age four.

"Raphy, where are you? Come out," Leonardo called out. "Come on Raphy, you better not be anywhere Splinter said we couldn't go. That's cheating." To his right, he thought he saw something move, and ran in that direction. To his disappointment, it only led him to a tunnel he wasn't familiar with. He was about to turn around when a few drops of water fell onto his bandanna. Looking up, to his utter amazement, he saw part of a grey sky. It was so foreign and amazing to him that he couldn't comprehend it for a while, then realized the manhole cover was absent from the sewer ceiling.

"It's the surface," he told himself in awe. He reached a hand out to the ladder rungs, but shirked back as if they were hot.

_Do not go up to the surface._ Splinter's warning rang through his small head, and he took a step back. But then he thought about Raphael, and not being able to find him.

"Raphy will be so mad when he finds this out," Leonardo said to the circle of sky with a big grin on his face. "I'll just go up for a bit." Expertly, he crawled up the sewer ladder, his tiny hands trembling with excitement. As soon as he popped his head out of the hole, a cool wind hit his smooth skin. Startled and then dazed, Leonardo took in a deep breath relishing the difference between the air above the surface and in his home. Side-stepping away from some wooden structures surrounding the manhole, the young mutant started exploring the small alley he was in. It wasn't much to look at with all the garbage piled up in and near the dumpster, two dreary buildings composing the wall with fliers and graffiti dotting the brick, and small puddles of water were scattered along the cement. But to a four-year old mutant turtle who has lived his whole life in the sewers, it was a new and thrilling world.

Leonardo's head started spinning from the intake of the scenery, and at the same time he started to feel scared. It was such a big place, much bigger than a small confined sewer tunnel. He felt vulnerable, and suddenly wanted to go back to the safety of the lair. He ran back to the hole with every intent not to stop until he saw Splinter and his brothers, but when he was at the edge he saw something coming up the ladder that made his turtle heart jump. Two huge monsters were lumbering up to the surface. Fearfully, Leonardo hid behind the dumpster, trembling at the deep voices of the creatures who exited the sewers.

"It looks as if it's goin' to rain, again," one said to the other, lifting up a tool box from his partner's hands.

"Then we need to hurry. We have one more hole to check out a few blocks away," the second muttered while he gathered up the "Men at work" signs. He watched as the first one replaced the cover back onto the hole as he said, "Have you heard those weird stories from the guys? Something about lizard people living in the sewers."

"Now that you mentioned it, I saw something kind of like that in a tabloid somewhere." The first one helped his coworker with the signs, and they walked away still gossiping.

The fear abated as soon as the large men left, but Leonardo was still trembling from the close call. He peered out of his hiding place just to make sure he was alone, then he crept over to the man hole. Fingers in the holes, the small turtle strained to remove the metal cover that weighted more than he did. After a moment of pulling, he relaxed and laid his head against the metal. Barely, he could hear tiny voices shouting his name.

"Raphy! Donnie! Mikey! I'm here!" he yelled as loud as he could. He put his ear against the cover again. The shouting didn't change. Could it be that they couldn't hear him?

"Can anybody hear me?!"

"Hey kid! Get away from there!"

Leonardo looked up only to see the large men that had come out of the sewer. He let out a scream with a high pitch that only children can reach, and ran in the opposite direction down the alley.

At first it was a few drops, the rain started pouring down in no time, soaking everyone who was unfortunate enough to get caught in it. Puddles formed and small rivers ran through the streets, and down storm drains. The clouds grew darker, making the shadows in the allies more defined.

Leonardo ran blindly through the ally, turning whenever he had to, trying to escape the huge monsters behind him. After awhile, he ran out of the maze of buildings into the street. There were dozens of people rushing around the sidewalks to get home out of the rain. There were large metal monsters with bright headlights that seemed like eyes to giant monsters from nightmares. The small turtle raced around, avoiding the people and vehicles as much as he could, but in his confusion and terror he would bump into people. He would scream and run in a different direction only to bump into another. The people were too busy to notice he was a turtle, they wanted to go home as quickly as they could.

Tired from running, Leonardo stopping and placed his hands on his knees. He didn't know that where he stopped was in the middle of a cross walk. When two pairs of bright eyes turned on him, he froze staring in horror at the humongous beast.

"Hey, get outta the road!"

Letting out a second scream, Leonardo ran away from the car, nearly was hit by a second, and came to rest in a different ally. He sat behind a garbage can and pulled his knees to his chin.

It was then that reality hit him.

"I want to go home," he whispered, tears starting to soak up in his mask. "I want to go home."

* * *

"My sons, it's time to eat," Splinter called, walking to the entrance of their lair.

Michelangelo was the first to run by him, whooping on his way to the table. Then came Donatello with his bear in his arms. Raph walked by Splinter rather passive for him, walking softly. Splinter waited a few moments before he called out, "Leonardo." His echo was the only answer.

"Leonardo," he called out again, louder and more anxious.

Still nothing.

"Leonardo!"

At the table, Raph lowered his head, his hands in his lap. When Splinter walked in, he didn't look up into his sensei's eyes.

"Where is Leonardo?"

"Dunno," Michelangelo and Donatello answered, their mouths full of food.

Splinter looked down at the third turtle. "Raphael, do you know where your brother is?"

Raphael shook his head solemnly.

Splinter noticed the young turtle's behavior, inquiring further. "When did you see Leonardo last?"

"We were playing hide-and-seek, and Leo was 'It'. He couldn't find me because I was hiding. . ." Raphael stopped.

"Where were you hiding?" Splinter asked sternly. He received no answer. "Did you go someplace you weren't suppose to."

Raphael bit his lip and nodded.

Splinter sighed heavily. "Raphael, you are to go to your room as soon as you finish eating. I want you to think about what you've done. I'll talk to you as soon as I come back."

"Where are you going?" Donatello asked.

"I'm going to look for your brother," Splinter answered. "All of you need to stay in the lair. Do not leave." Splinter grabbed his walking stick, and left the three turtles alone.

Donatello and Michelangelo starred at the lair exit. Splinter had never left them alone before.

"All right! Party!" Michelangelo shouted, standing on his chair and dancing around. "Come on Donnie, Raphy. We can do what we want."

Donatello jumped out of his chair, and ran to the cupboard. "I want cereal for dinner," he said, carrying a box of Honeycomb. He went back to his seat, opened the box, and pulled one peice out at a time to eat.

Raphael slid slowly out of his seat, and slowly dragged his feet out of the room, leaving his brothers.

* * *

A puddle of rain water formed around Leonardo, and the garbage can he was leaning against. Huddle up as much as he could in the shadows, the small turtle trembled from both fear and cold. Soon the sky grew dark, deepening the shadows in the ally, and the rain continued on in the darkness. Leonardo's eyes grew heavy.

_BANG_

A loud noise startled the turtle from his dozing, and he let out a frightened squeak.

"Is someone there?" a soft voice asked.

Leonardo looked up to see a large shadow over the garbage can. It wasn't as big as the humans he first met, and it was thinner with a higher voice. It had a large umbrella over it's head. At the sound of his squeak, the human crouched down by him.

"A kid? Are you all right?" the human asked in a soothing voice.

Leonardo whimpered, and tried to run away, but his little legs were so cold and tired they wouldn't move.

"Where are your parents?" the human inquired moving closer. "Are you lost?"

At the word "lost", Leonardo started to cry.

The human reached out to the young turtle. "Shhh. Don't cry. It's okay." When Leonardo edged away from her, she tried again. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'll help you find your parents."

"Father?" Leonardo cried softly, sniffling.

"Yeah. Your father. Now come here," she told him gently.

Trusting her, the small turtle reached out his hand and took hers. She helped him to his feet, and shivered at the touch. "You're so cold," she said worriedly. "Let's get you wrapped up and warm." She dropped her umbrella, and pulled off her large trench coat to cover him. Gathering him up in the material with one arm, and the umbrella in the other, she started walking away from the dark alley.

"How long have you been out here?" she asked, walking quickly through the rain. All she heard was a few sobs.

"It's okay. Don't cry, sweetie," the human murmured, patting the turtle on his back.

Leonardo clung to the coat that he was wrapped in, laying his head against the human's shoulder like he would do with Splinter. He was entirely covered, but he could still see out through the collar. He watched as they left the dark alley behind. The human didn't walk far before she entered a building. The small turtle watched through his small eye hole as his surroundings change. He grew anxious as he saw they were ascending some stairs to a higher level.

"What do you have there?" a new voice asked. It was deep like the humans at the manhole.

"Oh, I found a kid in the alley while taking out the trash," the human who was carrying him said. "Poor guy, he was just sitting out in the rain and so scared. I'm going to call the police, see if his parents have reported him."

"Well, I'll let you go. Don't forget, the rent is due next week."

"Yeah, when you fix the elevator."

They continued up a few more flights of stairs, after that they went down a hall and stopped. Leonardo turned his head, trying to see where they were. He saw a door opening, and they went in.

"All right. Let's see if we can find out if someone is looking for you," the human told him while setting him on his feet. Leonardo could finally see the human. She had long curly black hair and brown eyes that peered into the folds of the coat at him. She was dressed in a blue button up shirt and black slacks.

"Do you remember your phone number?" she asked.

Leonardo didn't know what that was, so he shook his head from inside the coat.

"What's your name, sweetie?"

"Leo," he said quietly, his first words.

"What are your parents' names? Do you know?"

Leonardo hesitated wondering if this human could really help him back to the lair. "My father's name is Splinter."

The human frowned. "Um. . .ok." She started to take her coat off him, but Leonardo turned away. He had been keeping the coat tightly around his body, afraid to show himself. He knew that his appearance would cause the human to do something to him.

The human tried again, and when Leonardo stepped away from her she asked, "Are you still cold? You can keep it on, I just need to see your face so I can tell the police what you look like." She firmly held him in place so he couldn't squirm. "Come on, let's see how cu. . . Ahhhh!"

Leonardo jumped back as the human shouted. He tried to run away, but the coat tripped him. Down he went, landing on his hands. He scrambled and crawled away until he was on the opposite side of the room. There he curled up inside the coat and closed his eyes.

"What are you?"

The small turtle heard the human's footsteps, and curled up tighter. After awhile, it was quiet. He was wondering what was going to happen, when he felt the material leaving his head. He looked up and saw the human looking at him nose to nose.

"Are you some sort of lizard?" she asked confused.

Tears came to Leonardo's eyes. "I'm a turtle."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You're a turtle," she quickly corrected herself. "A turtle named Leo, right?"

He nodded.

"Well Leo, my name is Lavinya. Nice to meet you." She smiled at him. "I promise I won't hurt you. Will you come out?"

"Promise?" Leonardo asked.

"Promise."

Leonardo crawled out of the coat as Lavinya sat up. "Are you still going to help me find Splinter?"

"Splinter? He's your father, right?"

"Yeah."

"So, it shouldn't be hard to find a big giant daddy turtle, right?"

Leonardo giggled. "He's not a turtle. Splinter's a rat."

"A rat? How does that work?" Lavinya asked, wrinkling her nose.

Leonardo looked at her in confusion.

"Never mind. Let's try to get you back home, okay?" Lavinya asked, standing up. "Can you remember what area of New York that you live?"

Leonardo didn't understand what Lavinya was talking about, so he tried the best he could. "We live in the sewers."

Lavinya stopped, her body going rigid. "You live in the sewers?" she asked, her voice very soft.

Leonardo felt tense, thinking that he said something wrong. He nearly screamed when the human woman picked him up and whisked him away. To his surprise, Lavinya took him to the bathroom. To a turtle who had lived in a sewer, he had never seen anything like it. "What are you going to do to me?" he asked softly, as he was set down on a blue fuzzy rug.

"I'm going to give you a bath," Lavinya insisted. "If you live in the sewer, you need one. Get in."

Leonardo looked at the porcelain tub skeptically, and then back at his hostess. "What's a bath?"

Lavinya gave him a tired look, and sighed. "We're just going to clean you up with soap and water, okay?"

Leonardo brightened up. "Like a shower?" he asked, excitedly. "I like to take showers." He climbed in, and took off his bandanna and belt to throw on the floor.

Lavinya looked at the discarded accessories as if they were full of disease. She sat down on the toilet lid, and started the water, testing it to make sure it wasn't too hot. When she saw Leonardo watching the water, still standing up, she told him, "You can sit down."

Leonardo sat down cautiously, watching as the water ran up around his legs and shell. "This isn't like at home. We don't get to take baths. I have to shower with all my brothers at once because it saves water."

"How many brothers do you have?" Lavinya asked, resting her elbows on her knees.

"Three. Mikey, Donnie and Raphy," Leonardo recited, happily moving around the tub as the water level rose. "They're all turtles," he added so there wouldn't be anymore confusion.

Lavinya laughed softly. "They are? How old are all of you?"

Leonardo looked at both his hands, and counted his fingers. Finally he raised up all his fingers on one hand, and one on the other. "Four!" he shouted.

"Four? All of you are four years old?" Lavinya asked, looking at Leonardo's fingers closely.

"Yeah, we're all the same age."

"So you're like Quadruplets?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Let me look at your hand," she requested, holding out her own. She carefully examined the tiny hand that was offered to her. "How cute. You only have three fingers," she said, while moving them.

"Yeah, and look at my feet. I only have two toes," Leonardo said anxiously, holding up his foot. When he did this, he lost his balance and fell over on his shell.

"Are you okay?" Lavinya exclaimed, helping the turtle up.

Leonardo laughed, splashing around. He twisted around so he could be on his stomach and blew bubbles in the water. He was so content to play around in the tub, and chatter on about his brothers and Splinter that he forgot that he was far from home with a strange person he had never met before. But like all children, they love attention from anyone who would give it. After a while of splashing and getting the bathroom and Lavinya wet, he was ready to get out. Before getting out, he asked, "Um, what's your name? I forgot."

"It's Lavinya. It's kind of hard to remember, huh?"

"Yeah. My name is kind of hard to remember, too."

"Leo?"

"No, my full name is Leonardo. Can I call you Lavie?"

Lavinya grabbed a towel, and lifted him out. "That's so cute. Yeah, you can." She helped him dry off. "Leonardo? Like the painter?"

"Yeah, Splinter named us all after painters," Leonardo said, glad to be talking again. "Michelangelo, Raphael, and Donatello. But they're all hard to say." Leonardo yawned, and rubbed his eyes. "Lavie, can I go home now? I want to go to bed." He looked at her with huge eyes.

Lavinya looked down at him sadly. "It's complicated, Leo. I would really love to take you home tonight, but I can't. It's already dark, and I don't know the sewers like I do the city. I can try to take you home in the morning, okay?" She bite her lip apologetically, waiting for a stream of tears.

Leonardo thought about it for a while, his face looking as if he was going to pout or cry. "You'll take me home tomorrow? I guess that's okay."

"You're very brave, Leo," Lavinya told him, patting him on the head. "Let's feed you, and put you to bed. Then as soon as you wake up, it'll be time for home."

Leonardo readily agreed to food, not having anything since lunch back at the lair. Lavinya gave him a PB&J sandwhich, and then made a bed for him on her couch.

"Thank goodness my room mate went to visit her family for a while. She'd wig out if she saw you," Lavinya told the turtle, who looked at her with a confused face. "Goodnight, Leo."

"Can I have a bedtime story, Lavie?" Leo asked. He pulled the blanket up to his chin, and snuggled down in the cusions as Lavinya started a fairy tale, but he didn't make it all the way through Little Red Riding Hood before he fell asleep.

* * *

The usual silence of the sewers was no longer there. Splinter noticed it as he ran through one tunnel after another, water dripping all over and water flowing all around in the sewer rivers, faster and noisier than before. It was a sure sign that it was raining above. Splinter worried whenever it rained because the swollen sewer rivers became very dangerous for young turtles that couldn't swim very well. It was a large possibility that Leonardo could have fallen in and was carried away. However, Splinter searched the larger rivers first, and didn't smell any fresh trails of his oldest son.

It was past dark when Splinter finally came across Leonardo's scent, a fresh one. But his heart jumped when he also smelled human. He followed both scents up the sewer ladder. He lifted up the manhole cover, and water splattered all over him.

"Leonardo!" he shouted. "Leonardo!" He continued to call until his voice grew hoarse, afterward he sank back into the sewers. Instead of returning to the lair right away, he sank to the sewer floor, his hands covering his face. "My son," he lamented, a tear coming down his cheek. "Leonardo. My son."

It was a while before he could return to the lair. It was very late, past the turtles' bedtime. Splinter searched around for his sons, thinking they must have made a mess and collapsed somewhere, but he couldn't find them about. He finally checked on Raphael, just needing to see one of them. There he found all of them, curled up together with a box of cereal nearby. They were fast asleep on Raphael's bed, one blanket doing it's best to cover them all. Raphael was hugging his pillow while Michelangelo was resting his head on the former's shell. Donatello was practically cheek to cheek with Raphael, one arm around his bear, the other around his brother.

Splinter was about to leave, and shut the door when he heard a quiet voice call, "Father?" He turned to see three pairs of sleepy and anxious eyes looking at him.

"Did you find Leo?"

Splinter sighed, and walked over to the bed. The turtles moved to give him room, so he sat down. Michelangelo crawled into his lap, while his other two sons leaned against his sides. "I'm sorry, my sons, but I couldn't find Leonardo."

"Is he going to be okay?" Michelangelo asked, holding onto Splinter's robes for comfort.

Splinter hugged his three sons close to him. "I don't know. I looked all over for him."

"I'm sorry, Splinter. It's all my fault," Raphael cried, his lip trembling. Tears rolled down his bandanna and disappeared into the cloth.

"No, Raphael. It's not your fault," Splinter told his son, patting the turtle's head. "It's no one's fault. We couldn't have known that Leonardo would get lost. Things like this happen, my sons," Splinter tried to explain the best he could.

Raphael kept crying, but tugged his master's sleeve. "I want to go find him. Can I look for him? Please?" Raphael begged.

"I want to go, too," Donatello added, pulling Splinter's other sleeve.

"Me too."

"All right, my sons. Tomorrow we all will look for Leonardo," he said quietly, trying to keep the lump in his throat down. "But now we must sleep."

The young turtles didn't waste much time to fall asleep once again, but it wasn't very restful. Splinter watched them, his heart aching for his children. They were too young to loose a brother, especially the oldest, the one they all look to.

* * *

"Splinter! Splinter!"

Thunder and lightning filled the apartment, something Leonardo had never seen or heard before. The noise seemed to rock the building on it's foundation, and the lightning cast strange shadows over the walls. The small turtle, for a moment, forgot where he was when he woke up, shouting for his father. He rolled off the couch, clutching the blanket he had, but everything was so unfamiliar that he started crying. Then the lights turned on.

"Wh-what's wrong?" a tired voice called out.

Leonardo turned to find Lavinya in a doorway, squinting in the light. He kept crying, just watching her. "I want Splinter."

"Oh, sweetie. I know you do," Lavinya mumbled, going to him and kneeling down. "It's okay. You'll see him tomorrow." She started to rub his back, but it didn't squelch the crying. "I bet the storm woke you up. Do you want me to stay here so you can fall asleep?"

Leonardo shook his head, and asked between sobs, "Can I sleep with you?"

Lavinya sighed. "There's barely enough room for me, kid." But when she looked at the scared turtle, she gave in. "Okay, get your pillow."

Soon, Lavinya was laying on half a bed with Leonardo on top of her covers with his own bedding. It took awhile for the turtle to fall asleep, his hand clutching his blanket. She sighed, rolled over and fell asleep as well, wondering how she was going to get through the next day.

* * *

"Lavie. Lavie. Wake up."

Lavinya moaned, turned and looked at her alarm clock. It read 7:36. She still had a half hour before she had to get up, so she went back to sleep.

"Lavie. It's morning," the tiny voice called again, shaking her shoulder. "I'm hungry, Lavie."

She opened her eyes a little to look up at a green face. "You're not a dream," she told the green face. "Let me sleep a little longer. I don't have class until nine," she told him, and rolled over. She was about to sink back into sleep, when her words sunk into her brain. She sat up, tossing her blankets back. "Shoot, I have class. I totally forgot. I'm sorry Leonardo. I forgot that I had class." She ran into the kitchen with the little turtle following after.

"What's class?" Leonardo asked, closely on her heels. He watched as she pulled out a box of frosted flakes and a milk.

"Um, it's a place where I go to learn stuff. I'm sorry, Leo. I have to go to class before I can take you home. It's only one class though, I can skip the others."

Leonardo followed Lavinya's hand with the cereal to the table. "It's like school, right?" Leonardo asked, pleased to know something. "Splinter teaches us, too. Me and my brothers are learning the alphabet. Want to hear?"

"I'd love to, but I have to take a shower. You eat your cereal, and when I get out I'll listen to you."

Leonardo wondered what was going to happen to him while Lavinya went to class. He ate in silence, waiting for the human to come out, and explain further. A while later, he was being led down the stairs of the apartment building, a baseball cap on his head and clothed in one of Lavinya's T-shirts and shorts which fit him just fine. He also had his bandanna and belt on, but they were still wet from being in the washing machine all night, and they didn't have time to dry them. Lavinya held his hand, and with her other arm carried a book bag.

"The bus comes in three minutes. We can make it if we hurry," Lavinya told herself, as she looked at her watch.

"What's a bus?"

Leonardo found out when the gigantic vehicle rolled to the bus stop, and frightened the turtle so much he had to be carried in. Once he found out that it wasn't eating him, he settled down on a seat watching things pass by from the window, occasionally asking questions about the things he saw. People would smile and wave at him, which he mimicked excitedly. He was almost disappointed when they had to exit the bus, but he found a new world outside of anything he'd ever seen.

There were trees lined up with winding sidewalks and small hills full of green grass. It was a wider space without any large buildings to hinder the view of the sky. Leonardo thought it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He raced onto the grass, feeling the blades between his toes and rolling onto it.

Lavinya watched with the smile, trying to imagine what it would be like to grow up never knowing the luxury of plant life or even the sky. But despite this paradise, the turtle eagerly wished to return to the dreary sewers and to his family. Perhaps she had been alone too long to remember what it was like to have a family.

With a sneaky expression, Lavinya sneaked up on the unsuspecting turtle. She roared and picked him up in a bear like hug to twirl him around. She dropped to the ground so she could tick him. Leonardo laughed loudly, squirming around on the grass until she stopped.

"Okay, Leo. Let's get to class."

* * *

Leonardo tried to pay attention during Lavinya's class just like when Splinter taught, but the joys of British Literature just wasn't in him. So he contented himself by drawing in Lavinya's notebook, occasionally listening when Lavinya would participate in the discussion.

Lavinya wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible after the discussion was over, but the presence of a child on campus was too much for some of the women there.

"Oh, you're such a cutie."

"Hey, Lavinya. I didn't know you had a kid."

"He's not mine. He's. . .a neighbor's. I'm just watching him for the day," Lavinya answered, worried about the attention Leonardo was getting. She tried to cover up all of Leonardo's turtle-ness, but the disguise wasn't that great. If any of the girls looked really closely, they'd notice the difference. "Come on, Leo. Let's get you home to your father."

"Yeah. Bye," he shouted, waving to the girls who waved back. "Humans are really nice," he told Lavinya.

"Sure, when you're as cute as you," she told him, and laughed when the turtle child smiled proudly.

Again, they rode the bus back to Lavinya's apartment, but they didn't go inside. Instead she took him to the alley where she found them. Nearby the trash can Leonardo hid behind, was a sewer cover. Leonardo helped Lavinya lift up the cover, and quickly scrambled down the ladder.

"Come on Lavie," he called, waving at her from the sewer floor.

Lavinya starred down the hole, hesitating to enter the pit of filth and slime. But with the small turtle beckoning her, his little eyes twinkling from the comfort of the familiar sewers, she couldn't disappoint him. First she removed a flashlight from her book bag, securely fasten it to her back, and climbed down careful not to touch anything but the ladder. When a slight sewer breeze hit her, she went weak from the smell, almost letting go of the metal rims.

"Hurry, Lavie," Leonardo called.

Lavinya replaced the sewer cover, and went down the rest of the way, almost as green as her reptilian companion. She steadied herself, and then flipped on her flashlight. "Leonardo, does this place look familiar to you?" she asked, looking around. She cringed at the sight that lay before her.

"No," Leonardo answered, grabbing her hand and pulling her forward. "Come on."

Lavinya allowed herself to be led by the turtle, keeping the light pointed ahead.

"Splinter! Raphy! Mikey! Donnie!" Leonardo called out, using as loud a voice as he could, stopping every once in awhile to listen.

Lavinya called out too, feeling silly calling for a giant rat with a turtle child in the sewers. Never had she ever dreamed something like this would happen to her.

* * *

"Leo! Leo!" the line of turtle called. They followed their master through one tunnel to the next after searching the place they were playing at the day before. The started out as soon as they woke up. Splinter couldn't make them wait for anything. The tiny turtles ran out of the lair after breakfast, scattering in all directions. Splinter had to gather them like a mother hen, and lead them to where they were now. They had been gone for hours, constantly walking and calling, only now a little slower and a little softer. Splinter turned around to glance at his sons. They were dragging their feet, stumbling every once in a while, and their eyes drooped. Even the ever energetic Michelangelo called out less and less.

"That is enough, my sons. You are very tired," Splinter told them, stopping and leaning on his walking stick. "Let us go home, and rest. We can try again later."

A volley of protests invaded his ears, telling him they must find their lost brother. They tried to demonstrate that they weren't tired by shouting again, but their voices died down quickly as they followed Splinter.

At home, Splinter gave them an early lunch, afterward they fell asleep for a nap. Even Splinter felt like dozing when he tried to meditate to clear his thoughts, to come to the realization that he had lost one of his sons. He fell asleep to the sounds of his remaining sleeping sons.

* * *

Lavinya marched on, every once in a while calling out the rat's name. She had to walk slowly since Leonardo had fallen asleep in her arms once he was too tired to walk. She was starting to sweat which turned cold from the damp chill. She had turned off her flashlight a while ago to preserve energy, and was surprised at how easy it was to see in the sewers from holes in the ceiling to the surface. She was comforted at this small contact with her world. Everything was so strange, she suddenly knew how Leonardo felt. But once she was used to the smell, she didn't feel so squeamish, and she didn't have to look at the unpleasant sights in the shadows.

Shifting the turtle from one shoulder to the other, Lavinya looked at her watch. The two of them had been down there for three hours. In two hours she had to be at work, and she worried that if they couldn't find this Splinter soon, she would have to take the turtle home again. She didn't like the thought of waking up Leonardo, and not have his father there. His eyes were just too sad for her heart to take.

"Splinter," she shouted again, taking another turn at a T-intersection. At first, she let Leonardo go wherever he felt, hoping something would look familiar to the turtle, but afterward she just picked tunnels at random, keeping to the larger ones. She almost had a panic attack when Leonardo led her through a smaller tunnel that she had to crawl through. She vowed to herself that she would scourge her skin until she was sure she was clean when she returned home.

"Splinter!" she shouted again. Checking her watch, she read 2:36. She had an hour and a half left before work. If she couldn't find the turtle's father in twenty minutes, she would have to give up.

"Splinter!"

Unbeknownst her, Lavinya was very close to the lair where Splinter lay on his meditation rug. His ninja skills, and rat senses quickly woke him up to the almost inaudible calling. His body went on defense at the strange voice. Without a sound, he grabbed his walking stick and ran out. His padded animal feet made his footsteps silent as he traced the voice to it's source. Keeping to the shadows, the ninja rat found the human woman, and observed her carefully. He watched as she walked closer to the lair and his children, a large bundle in her arms.

Feeling as if someone was watching, Lavinya turned around quickly, looking for anything. Thinking it was her imagination, she continued on calling out the rat's name. But because of the feeling she had, she turned her flash light back on, and started sweeping it around the sewers.

Splinter didn't predict this, and had to run to stay out of the bright illumination. A slight gasp from the human told him she saw part of him.

"Who's there?" the trembling voice called. "Splinter?" She turned around, trying to catch the thing she saw. Something hit her flashlight, and it flew out of her hand. Clinging to Leonardo, backed protectively into the lightest part of the sewers.

"Why are you here?"

Lavinya tried to find the source to the disembodied voice. To her, it sounded angry and hungry. She recalled that rats will attack humans if they were hungry enough, and she trembled at the thought of a giant rat. "A-are you Splinter?"

"What do you want from me?" the voice questioned, seeming to come from everywhere.

"I found your son," she told the voice, looking forward where she believed the rat was. "I have Leonardo here." She took the baseball cap off the turtle's head, showing the blue mask.

"My son?" the voice said, softer. Splinter slowly stepped out of the shadows in sight of the woman. "Leonardo?"

Lavinya didn't feel so afraid once she saw what Splinter looked like. Walking with the help of a stick, he seemed a lot more smaller and frail than the quick shadow that knocked out her flashlight. Instead of inky black, his fur was gray, giving him more of a grandfather look than that of a parent.

Splinter lifted a clawed hand up to the turtle's head. "Leonardo," he called softly.

The turtle started to stir from the touch and the sound of his name. He looked around sleepily, but once he saw the face of his father, he practically jumped into the rat's embrace.

"Father!"

"My son," Splinter laughed, hugging the child close to him. His child snuggled into Splinter's fur, and laughed and cried with his father. Father and son were finally together, rejoicing while an outsider watched with a smile.

"Thank you, for returning my sons," the rat said, turning toward the stranger. "I must apologize for my behavior. Intruders don't come here often." From his pocket, he pulled out the flashlight.

Lavinya took it from him shyly, almost apologetically. "It's okay. I understand," she told them. She took a tentative step back, and sighed. "I guess my job is done. I'll just be going."

"Lavie. You're leaving?" The small turtle's voice stopped her. A small hand reached out for her, and she grabbed it.

"It appears Leonardo has taken to you," Splinter told her.

"I guess I have too," Lavinya told the old rat, rubbing Leonardo's head. "I have to go Leo. I have to go to work."

"Can you come back?" Leonardo asked, looking at her than Splinter.

"My son, she has her own life," Splinter explained. "She lives in a different world than us."

The disappointment on the young turtle's face was too much. "It's not that different," she corrected him. "I mean. . .um. . .if you need a babysitter, I'd be happy to help out."

Splinter smiled. "Thank you for the offer, Miss. You're generosity is too much," Splinter said with a bow.

"Not at all," Lavinya said, pulling out a notebook and pen from her book bag. "I'll just give you my address and phone number. I don't mind. Leonardo was such a sweetie." She gave the paper to Splinter, and then walked away while waving to the pair.

"Let's get home. There's three little turtles who are worried about you," Splinter told his oldest.

"Can Lavie babysit tomorrow?" Leonardo asked, tugging at his father's sleeve.

Splinter chuckled softly, shaking his head.

* * *

"And then the monsters chased me all over. But I hid in the shadows, like a ninja, and they couldn't find me," Leonardo explained wildly, using his entire body to act it out.

Three huge eyes were glued onto his every movement, waiting in suspense at his next words.

"Did they have sharp teeth?" Donatello asked, his bear.

"Did they try to eat you?" Michelangelo inquired, leaning forward.

"Did their eyes glow in the dark?" Raphael shouting, jumping to his feet.

"That's enough for today," Splinter interrupted, walking into the room. "We all had a long day, and it's time to go to bed."

A chorus of whines echoed around him, but an intense look at the children quieted them. They slowly made their way to bed, procrastinating as much as they could and trying to talk to their brother as much as possible.

Above them on the surface, the woman who just found out that four turtles and a rat lived in the city sewers was about ready to go to bed as well. She had showered before going to her job, and showered again afterward, positive that she will never be clean again. She was then sitting on her couch, reading a text book, but not quite being able to concentrate. The scene of father and son reuniting was replaying over and over again. She felt so good about being the one who made that happen, and when she left she felt lonely. Shoving her textbook aside, Lavinya picked up the phone off the coffee table and dialed a number.

"Hey, Mom. Is Dad there? No, I just called to talk. Nothing. I just had a really good day, and wanted to know how you've been doin'?"


	2. Chapter 2: Abandoned

_There is no greater love in the world than a parents' to their child. I have always loved my sons, no matter what they've done. I understood their frustration about not being able to go to the surface. At times their irritation forced me to be very stern with them, and I would not be able to control my anger. But even then, my love for them never faltered. It may have wavered a bit, but that is understandable with four energetic boys._

Heros in the Past, Children of Honor

Chapter 2: Abandoned

By Hatashi Kitty

(Two weeks later.)

"Splinter. Splinter, look what I found?"

Two tiny green hands held up a collection of coins.

"Good job, Michelangelo," the rat told his youngest, opening the sack he kept to hold money. The turtle dropped the coins in, and raced off to look for something else.

Raphael dragged a large bag toward his teacher. It rumbled with metallic scraps and bangs. "Splinter, why do we have to pick up all these cans?" he whined. "We do it every day."

"The human world is a strange place," Splinter explained. "We need to adapt to their ways to survive. We need food that the humans have, so we use the things we find down here to exchange for the things we need."

Donatello held up a rusted metal lid. "This is worth food?" he asked skeptically.

"Yes, my son. I take everything we gather down here up to the surface, and they exchange it for food," Splinter explained, skipping the money exchanging process.

The turtles gathered around, their eyes wide since they had never heard this before.

"You go up to the surface to get us food?" Leonardo asked.

"But when do you go up?" Michelangelo inquired. "You never leave without us."

Splinter leaned against his walking stick. "You are all old enough to understand what I'm about to tell you, I hope. I go and get food while you are sleeping. I don't stay for long in case any of you wake up."

The turtles stared at him in awe, taking in this startling information.

"I want to go with you tonight," Raphael shouted with excitement. "Please, can I?"

"If Raphie goes, I am too," Michelangelo added, hopping up and down.

Before his other sons could say anything, Splinter gruffly told them. "No!" His sons flinched at his sternness. "None of you are going to the surface. Is that clear?"

Four turtle heads nodded in surprise.

In a more collected voice, Splinter tried to reason with his impetuous sons. "The surface is a very dangerous place. Leonardo, you have experienced the perils above. Not all humans are like this Lavie who found you. I just can't put you four at risk."

Leonardo nodded, remembering his adventure topside.

"Do you understand, my sons? What I do is for your own good."

"Yes, Splinter."

With that, they continued their search around the sewers.

Raphael went in the opposite direction as his father, moping as he rooted through the debris that washed down the drain. Leonardo was right behind him, dragging their sack.

"Stupid humans, living on the surface. Why'd they have to be there? I wish that they were all gone. I hate them," Raphael muttered angrily, kicking at a pop can.

Leonardo heard, and grew angry. But rather yell at his brother, and risk Splinter hearing, the older turtle just pushed his brother. The younger turtle stumbled forward, turned around, and glared.

"Why'd you do that?"

"Humans aren't stupid," Leonardo told the angry turtle. "You're stupid."

"No, I'm not," Raphael yelled, jumping onto the other turtle.

The two rolled around, hitting and kicking each other, almost falling off the edge into a sewer river. Their scuffle ended abruptly when a stick hit Raphael's shell.

"That's enough you two!" Splinter shouted. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Leo shoved me!"

"You started it!"

"No, I didn't! You did!"

"Nuh uh! You said Lavie was stupid, and it's not true."

"Quiet, both of you!" Splinter interrupted, threatening them both with his walking stick. "I am very disappointed in the two of you. When we get home, you two will scrub all the floors today."

The two dropped their heads, ashamed to have been assigned so much work.

"That's enough for today, my sons. Let us go home," he told them, and turned to lead the way home.

Michelangelo, unable to resist his playful nature, whispered to the punished turtles, "You got in trouble. You got in trouble."

At the same time, the two irked turtles wacked their brother over the head.

"Splinter!" Michelangelo cried out, running to the old rat.

"What is it, Michelangelo? Is something wrong?" asked Splinter, letting his youngest grasp his paw. But the little turtle didn't answer, silently bearing his secret least he be condemned a tattle-teller. Splinter eyed his other sons, having an idea what had happened. After that, everyone remained quiet until they arrived back at the lair.

"I'm hungry," Donatello stated loudly, tugging at his father's clothing.

"Me too," Michelangelo piped up.

The others looked like they wanted to say something to this, but didn't dare.

"I'll go fix lunch now," Splinter told them. "I'd suggest that those of you who have extra chores start immediately if they want to finish today."

"Yes, Splinter," Leonardo and Raphael said in monotone voices.

"I want pizza for lunch," Michelangelo told his father, hanging onto him while they went into the kitchen.

"We had pizza yesterday," Splinter sighed. "Today we are having ramen."

"Yuck," Michelangelo eloquently stated while pulling a face. "I don't want ramen. I want pizza. I want pizza!" The tone in Michelangelo's voice turned to that of almost desperate as he continued to shout for pizza.

For the second time that day, Splinter used his stick to punish one of his sons. A swift thunk across Michelangelo's backside surprised the young turtle into closing his mouth.

"You are acting like a spoiled child. Get out of the kitchen, and don't come back until lunch is ready," Splinter snapped at his youngest, driving the turtle out with a glare. The rat sighed heavily, wondering why his sons were acting up more than usual. He decided they had too much energy, and resolved to intensify their ninja training. That made him feel better so he started boiling a large pot of water for the noodles.

Sulking from the reprimand he'd received, Michelangelo wondered around the lair until he found a nerf ball to kick around. Unfortunately that only led him into more trouble.

"Hey, leave my ball alone, Mikey," Raphael shouted at his younger brother.

"I don't see your name on it," Michelangelo told him with a grin.

"Give it back."

"No, I was playing with it first."

Raphael tried to kick the ball away from his brother, but missed and hit Michelangelo's shin.

"OW! Spli. . ." Raphael clamped his hand over his brother's mouth to stop him from yelling for their father.

"Shhhh. I'm sorry, Mikey," Raphael hissed, not sounding apologetic at all.

"Raphie, leggo," Michelangelo ordered, pushing him away.

"Yeah, Raphie, leave him alone," another voice told the unruly child.

"Mind your own beeswax, Donnie," Raphael shouted, swatting at the brother that just entered.

Donatello was too far out of Raphael's reach, but not too far to give anything back. Using his bear as an extension, he slammed it down on Raphael's head.

Raphael wasn't phased by the soft blow, but on reflex grabbed the toy's head.

"Let go Raphie!"

"No! You!"

A tug of war ensued with Michelangelo jumping in by grabbing one of the bear's arms to help Donatello. That's how Leonardo found them.

"Stop it, you guys!" he shouted at his brothers as he carried in a bucket of water. "We'll get in trouble again. Raphie, you're suppose to help me clean."

"Shut up, Leo!"

"No, you shut up. You're suppose to be cleaning." Leonardo left his bucket to pull on Raphael's shell.

RIIIIPPP!

Four shells hit the stone floor hard as the bear's stitching gave it, it's head in Raphael's hands while the body in Donatello's

"My bear!" Donatello screamed, tears forming in his eyes. Then, to the surprise of his brothers, he charged the two in possession of the toy's head. Diving on top of them, he punched and kicked blindly, avenging the decapitation of his friend. Not far behind him, Michelangelo jumped into the fray, wanting to pay back all the wrongs handed to the youngest.

The battle turned into a free-for-all, no one taking sides with another. They were all against each other, past vendettas rose up as they released all their pent up anger into every little fist. Just when they were at each other's throats, the battle ended when cold water splashed down on their head. Confused, they looked up to see Splinter holding Leonardo's bucket.

"What is the matter with all of you?" the rat yelled at them. "Your behavior is unacceptable. You. . .I'll. . .Y-You. . ." Splinter was so angry, he couldn't form words. Instead, he gave out a frustrated yell, and stormed out of the lair.

The turtles scrambled to their feet to follow their teacher, but when they peered out of the lair's door, both ends of the tunnel were empty. Splinter had disappeared into the shadows.

* * *

"Hey, Britt. You watchin' anything?"

"Just MTV. Why?"

Lavinya's room mate raised an eyebrow at the taller girl, who held up a video tape. "I want to do my exercise video."

"I can tell by the way you're decked out," the other girl noted.

Lavinya looked down at her loose baby pink sweater featuring colorful circles and triangles, one side of the collar had fallen off her shoulder to reveal a black bra strap and the excess material was tied in a knot at the waist line. Underneath she had navy blue tight pants with matching pink leg warmers and socks.

"What's the matter with what I'm wearing?"

"Nothing, if you're going on 'Punky Brewster'," Brittney teased, turning back to her music channel.

"Shut up," Lavinya shouted, trying to hide a smile. "If you want, you can dance with me. I have an extra pair of leg warmers that will match your hair."

Brittney snorted through her nose, and tossed her violet hair. "No thanks. I've had enough of Richard Simmons. I can't understand how you can even look at that nasty man."

"He's funny," Lavinya argued, putting her hands on her hips. "Fine, I'll go do some homework if you won't let me exercise. I'll just grow a big butt like yours."

"That's right," Brittney yelled at the retreating backside as the other young woman went into her room. Brittney waited until her room mate closed the door before turning up the volume. She was just about to watch her favorite music video when there was a knock at the door.

_This always happens when I'm watching_, Brittney thought angrily and went to go answer the door.

There was a figure in a brown cloak with his face hidden from view. He leaned on a stick and gray hair poked out of the hood. He was very startled by Brittney, but that didn't bother her. She received the same reaction from people who tried to ignore her violently dyed hair, nose ring, multiple earrings, and dark clothes and make up. She smiled down at who she had the impression of an old man.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry. I think I have the wrong door. I'm looking for Miss Lavinya Juniper," a tired sounding voice told her.

"Yeah, Lavie's here. Lav! Door!" the woman called into the apartment, then left to return to her spot on the couch.

"Yes?" Lavinya asked when she arrived at the door. "Can I help you?" She tilted her head at the stranger at her door, wondering if he would wave his hand and tell her these weren't the androids she was looking for. But after the hood fell open a little, she recognized the rat that she had met two weeks ago. "Hey, you're Leo's father, right?" she told him with a little excitement in her voice.

"Yes. Forgive me for intruding like this, but I need some help with my sons," the rat pleaded.

"Leo and his brothers? Are they here?" Lavinya asked, looking around the halls to see if they were around.

"No, they aren't," Splinter replied. "Is there somewhere more private we can talk?" The rat glanced around nervously as people passed by them on their way to their own apartment.

"Yeah, come on in," Lavinya said, pushing the door more open.

Splinter looked toward the noisy TV skeptically then back at his host.

"Hey Britt. Can you leave for a while?" Lavinya asked the other woman. "My. . .um. . . Grandfather came to visit me."

"Fine," Brittney huffed, and turned off the TV. "I'll just go for a walk since nobody wants me here." She passed by the two, and closed the door on her way out.

Lavinya led Splinter to a chair while she sat adjacent from him on the couch. "What's going on with Leo? Is he okay?" she asked worriedly.

"All of my sons are fine," Splinter murmured as he settled in the comfortable chair and relaxed. "It's just that lately they've been. . .uh. . .difficult. I need some time away from them before I lose my anger. I'm afraid I already have."

"And you want me to watch them for a while," Lavinya guessed twirling some of her curls around a finger.

Splinter sighed. "Right. I wish there was any other way since I have not left my children before. But I feel I need a rest for all of our sakes."

"No surprise there," Lavinya added. "Any parent would go crazy with four boys if they never had a night to themselves. Don't worry about it, I can take care of them for you." She waved off the thanks that Splinter was about to say. "Go. Got out on the town. Catch a movie, meet some girls, take a break. I'll handle those boys."

Splinter raised an eyebrow at Lavinya's ranting, but smiled at her generosity. She didn't know what she was getting herself into.

* * *

The lair was very quiet since Splinter had stormed out. Each turtle had taken over a different territory so that they wouldn't have to see his brothers, the ones who drove Splinter away. Raphael had parked himself by the front door wanting to be the first to defend himself when his father came home. Donatello was in the bedroom, holding the two pieces of his friend in a sorrowful way. Michelangelo had laid on the couch, grumbling about his brothers until he fell asleep. Leonardo, on the other hand, was going from room to room mopping the floors with a new bucket of water. He was so determined to finish his punishment even if Raphael wasn't helping.

Raphael was about to doze off when the door opened slowly. He jumped to his feet, a broad smile on his face. But his happy countenance fell when it wasn't Splinter who he saw. He screamed, and ran to the couch where Michelangelo slept. Hiding behind the shell of his younger brother, Raphael hoped the monster would eat the most tender of the two.

Leonardo was in the kitchen when he heard the scream thinking that is was another fight. But to his surprise, he found a tall curly haired woman instead.

"Lavie!" Leonardo shouted, launching himself at her.

Barely able to catch the turtle, Lavinya swung him around. "Hi Leo. Nice to see ya, too."

"Lavie, why are you here?" Leo asked tugging at her sweater.

Lavinya set the turtle down. "Splinter asked me if I would babysit you and your brothers for a while."

"Where did Splinter go?"

Lavinya looked around for the new voice that had called out to her. She saw two turtles, one behind the other. She smiled as the furthest one peeked out to glance at her and then ducked back down again. She walked to the couch, with wondering eyes, surprised how much all three looked alike. "Your father left for a while, but he'll be back," she told them, trying to see the face behind the red bandana. "What's your name?"

When Raphael didn't answer, his brother did for him. "That's Raphie," Leonardo told the human. "And Mikey's sleeping."

"There's four of you, right? Where's the other one?" Lavinya looked around for the other clone-like brother.

"I'll find him. Donnie!" Leonardo ran off around the lair shouting for the shyest of the family.

Lavinya didn't take her eyes off the one she knew as "Raphie," amused at his reaction to her. "Raphie, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." She touched his shoulder which made the turtle turn over defensively.

The two stared at each other, tension hanging heavily between them.

"Here's Donnie," Leonardo announced, dragging his brother by the hand. Donatello allowed himself to be led to the human, his teary eyes locking onto this strange new comer. He sniffled a little, his bear still clutched in his grip. "Donnie, this is Lavie. I told you about her," Leonardo explained.

Lavie crouched down to the new turtle's level, her eyebrows turning down. "Are you okay, Donnie? What's the matter?"

Donatello sobbed once, but didn't say anything. He just grabbed onto Lavinya's arm and buried his face into her soft sweater, which startled Lavinya. She didn't expect such boldness from any of them.

"Raphie pulled the head off his bear," Leonardo volunteered the information, sitting down on the floor.

"No, I didn't!"

Lavinya looked toward the red bandana wearing turtle who had remained on his spot on the couch, watching his brothers and curiously observing Lavinya.

"Can I see your bear?" Lavinya asked, carefully taking the pieces of the toy. She looked at the ripped seam as well as she could with one arm. "It's not so bad. I can fix it."

Donatello's head popped up like it had a spring in it. "Really?" he asked in amazement. When she reconfirmed it, a broad smile lit his face. "Now?"

"No, not now. I need some needle and thread from my apartment. But I promise I'll do it as soon as I can," she told him, the turtle smile making her smile as well. "Well, what should we do now?" Lavinya asked the turtles, setting aside the injured bear.

A rumbling noise invaded all their ears.

Lavinya turned around with a grin. "Raphael, was that your stomach?" she asked.

The turtle's face scrunched up in a horrible look. "No, it was Mikey," he shouted. He then started to rock the younger turtle around. "Wake up, Mikey."

"Leave him alone. Let him sleep," Lavinya told the turtle gently. When she turned to ask the others if they were hungry as well, Raphael stuck out his tongue at her. "Let's get you guys something to eat," Lavinya said, standing up. "Where's the kitchen?"

Leonardo grabbed her hand and led her to the kitchen. Donatello had a hold of her other hand, and wouldn't let go. Raphael trailed along behind the group, somewhat hesitant to join the stranger.

After making a pot of macaroni and cheese, she put bowls of it on the table. Leonardo and Donatello climbed into the chairs, and started eating. Raphael only followed, but slowly.

"Splinter makes better macaroni and cheese," Raphael stated, lifting a spoonful of the pasta.

Lavinya raised an eyebrow. "You haven't even tried it."

"I don't have to to know it's yucky," Raphael shouted at the babysitter.

Lavinya took a deep breath, and told the little turtle firmly, "You can't leave this table until you eat every bite." She then picked up the fourth bowl of food, and went into the other room. There, Michelangelo was still sleeping curled up on the couch. Lavinya sat next to him, and put the bowl right next to his face.

The youngest turtle's eyes popped open at the aroma, no dream good enough to keep him asleep. Grabbing the bowl, the little turtle sat up and gulped down a few spoonfuls as if he'd been denied food for a few days.

Lavinya watched him eat, smiling down at the turtle.

Michelangelo didn't notice the human until half a dozen bites into his meal, in which he stopped and looked up with his spoon still in his mouth. He watched her a while, and she looked back at him. After a short time, Michelangelo slowly inched his way off the couch, and scampered to the kitchen never taking his eyes off the strange creature on the couch.

After he disappeared in the kitchen, Lavinya saw the turtle poke his head out and duck back in.

"What's that in our living room?" a loud voice asked the three other turtles.

Lavinya laughed softly, trying to imagine what the clueless turtle was being told.

"Oh," Michelangelo said in understanding, after he's listened to the explanation. "She looks strange."

"It's great that she's here," Leonardo told them excitedly. "We're going to have so much fun, and we'll play games, and go for a walk and. . ."

"I hate her!" Raphael interrupted, folding his arms. "Why is she here? Why isn't Splinter here?"

The other three grew quiet.

"She's not our father. I'm not going to listen to her," Raphael shouted, waving his arms around. In his excitement, he knocked his bowl of macaroni onto the floor. It fell with a loud crash, breaking the ceramic dish to pieces.

"What was that?!" Lavinya's voice yelled from the living room.

"Raphie's in trouble! Raphie's in trouble," Michelangelo shouted in a teasing voice.

"Shut up, Mikey," Raphael shouted, and grabbed the orange bandanna from off the young turtle's head. He took off his red one to replace it with the other.

Donatello lunged for Leonardo's head. "I get to be Leo!" he called, donning the blue bandana.

Leonardo allowed his color namesake to be taken. "Then I get to be Raphie," he joined in with a smile.

"You guys always make me be Donnie," Michelangelo whined.

"Shut up, it's not that bad," Donatello shouted as Leonardo would.

"Besides, Mikey, I have to be you," Raphael said, wacking his brother over the head.

The four turtles lined up at the door just as Lavinya walked in. "What happened in here? Who did this?" she asked calmly. She looked over to the four turtles who each smiled innocently up at her. "I want to know who did this."

Four shoulders shrugged at her.

Lavinya raised an eyebrow at the change of character in the four turtle children. She sighed, thinking about the look Splinter gave her when she told him she could handle the turtles. She went onto her knees so she could see them at their eye level. "I'm not mad. Whoever did it, isn't in trouble. All they need to do is clean up their mess, and I'll get them a new bowl of food."

The four turtles looked around as if they didn't know what she was talking about.

Lavinya sighed again, and tried a new tactic. Looking at the blue bandana wearing turtle, she asked, "Leo, do you know who did it?"

Donatello felt the pressure of Lavinya's eyes, and said softly, "Raphie did."

"Raphie? Okay, that's the red one," Lavinya said, trying to remember the correct color to the name. "Okay, Raphie," she said, picking up the red turtle by the shell, "It's time to do a little cleaning."

The turtle smiled at her and laughed. "Hi, Lavie."

"Leo?" she asked the red face, recognizing the voice. Her face twisted in confusion, then in anger as she realized she was being tricked. She set the laughing turtle down, away from the others. "Okay, I see where this is going," Lavinya told the remaining three. "You think that you won't be punished if I can't find Raphie. . .well, I'm onto you." She looked at them, and smiled. "Now, which one of you is that cute one. . . Donnie."

Raphael, hiding behind the orange mask, knew he was in trouble. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Donatello almost smiling and wanting to claim his title as cute one, which would eliminate him down to Michelangelo and himself. And Michelangelo wasn't too discrete.

Just as Donatello was about to step forward, Raphael grabbed Leonardo away from Lavinya's side, and pulled him into the group. He pulled down Michelangelo and Donatello into a messy pile, pulling off all of their face masks. His brothers complained and shouted at his actions, struggling to disentangle themselves from limbs and shells.

Lavinya couldn't stop the brothers from hiding their identities once again, but she tried to keep Leonardo in view, but he melted into the green blob of turtles and they all came out anonymous. Her temper rising, Lavinya took a deep breath, and spoke again. "Which one of you is Leo?" She figured if she couldn't find the one who caused the problem, she would start eliminating those who didn't once again.

The four brothers shifted back and forth, feeling a little heat under the gaze of their babysitter.

Raphael knew his brothers might crack, it wasn't their shell on the line so they had nothing to worry about. While watching his brothers, he came up with a new idea. "I'm Leo," Raphael said, raising his hand, and giving Lavinya the sweetest smile he could.

Lavinya smiled back, ready to pick him up.

Abhorred by this, Leonardo jumped in. "No, I'm Leo," he yelled at Raphael.

"No, you aren't. I am," Raphael argued.

The two continued to claim the name of Leo until Michelangelo caught on with the new game. "No, I'm Leo," he said, pushing the other two aside.

Donatello then joined in, not wanting to miss out on the fun.

"You're wrong. I'm Leo."

"Hold it!"

The four turtles stopped their fighting after Lavinya shouted at them.

She took a deep breath, and brushed her hand through her frazzled looking hair. "Now tell me, which one of you is Leo?"

"I am!" all four turtles exclaimed, raising their tiny hands.

Lavinya folded her arms. "Then, which one of you is Mikey?"

They all raised their hands again, claiming the said name.

"Which one is Donnie?"

Again, they all answered collectively that they were.

"Which one of you is Raphie?"

Four hands were raised.

That's when Lavinya smiled. "If all of you are Raphie, then you all did it. Now all of you can clean up that mess."

"That's Raphie," three voices said and pointed to the lone turtle who looked at his brothers in surprise.

Lavinya laughed to herself, surprised by her own genius, even though she had only outwitted four four-year-olds. "Okay, Raphie. Start cleaning up the mess you made, and you will also clean the kitchen from lunch."

"Ah, man," Raphael shouted, marching to his broken dish.

"As for the rest of you," Lavinya told the remaining turtles. "You will have to do some chores too."

"Chores? Why?" Michelangelo complained.

"Splinter told me to punish you with chores," Lavinya told them.

"Punish us? We didn't do anything," Donatello said in a Michelangelo-like voice.

"Yes you did," Lavinya contradicted. "You lied to me. Now let's see what's dirty around here."

As she walked off beckoning them, the three brothers turned to Raphael, and gave him a dark look. The single turtle shirked from their glare, and quickly started cleaning up the macaroni and cheese, knowing his punishment won't end at the kitchen.

* * *

Miles away from the large city was a small forest, with cleaner and fresher air than the smoggy mist that hung over New York. It was sparsely populated by humans, a few houses and cabins in the area, but not a lot. In a small shady glen, a small stream flowed through, bubbling softly down a hill to empty into the sea miles away. In this peaceful glen, sat Splinter.

He had traveled through the sewers to the end of the city. From there, he deftly traveled to this forest in secret, careful not to let anyone see him. He had known of this piece of paradise before he had met the turtles and the mutagen. His master, Yoshi, would often come here when he couldn't stand the sights and sounds of the city, a place where there was nobody to find him, nobody to judge who he was. Here, he was alone with nature.

Splinter sat in a lotus position, concentrating on the subtle serene sounds of the forest, and breathing in the sweet smells he hadn't experience for so long. He had spent an hour meditating, trying to clear his head and soul of the angry feelings he harbored. When he returned to his sewer home, he wanted to return to his children with a peaceful and forgiving mind. But while one part of him wanted to go back, another wanted to stay in this calm forest. The thought of returning to the morning's fights and arguments deterred him. He didn't want to return to that.

Splinter shook his head, wondering where such thoughts came from. He loved his sons. Even after all the heartache they gave him, he loved them. He couldn't just abandon them, could he? Splinter was surprised by these feelings that perforated his thoughts.

Not once in the four years of raising his sons, had he ever thought of leaving them even though they weren't his own. However, he sometimes questioned his underlying motives to teaching them the arts of ninjitsu. Bishido demanded that he avenge his master, Yoshi, of his murder. Once the turtles grew up and finished their training, they would be formidable ninjas and powerful allies. But was it really fair to bring these children into his vendettas?

Even though they were his only family, they weren't his true sons, and he wasn't their real father. Did he have any right to their future, to make this decision for them? He was their master, and he was the only one who could raise them, he did everything that a father would. But he couldn't choose their path for them.

_Such feelings_, he decided, _can't be left without resolving. I cannot return to my sons with these puzzles left unsolved._

His thoughts turned to the young woman he left in care of the turtles. He could tell Lavinya was a good person, and that she would take care of them. She already loved Leonardo, and went to great length to help him when he was lost. She would do the same for all of them, and keep them safe from dangers of the human world.

"I'm sorry, my sons," Splinter said in the direction of the city. "But I can't return just yet. As soon as I am ready, we will be reunited." Splinter picked up his walking stick, and started following the stream. "Besides, Lavinya told me to have some fun, and I think I will." He hated to take advantage of anyone's charity, but he trusted her when she said she could handle them.

* * *

"I'm finished," Michelangelo told the babysitter, dropping his dirty rag. Donatello, who was helping him clean the bathroom, came up beside him. The older turtle hadn't said anything since their assigned cleaning, giving everyone the cold shoulder.

Leonardo, who had the job of washing all the walls, had finished a few minutes before. He was now on the couch with Lavinya, having forgiven her for her harsh punishment, unlike his brothers who now treated her with fearful respect.

"That's great, guys," Lavinya told them, setting aside her book that she brought. "Since all of you did so well, we should all play a game."

Michelangelo perked up. "What game?"

Lavinya smiled at the youngest excitement. "Have any of you played Simon Says?"

The three turtles shook their heads, their faces reflecting their curiosity.

"I'll show you," Lavinya told them.

"What about Raphie?" Donatello asked, looking toward the kitchen.

Lavinya slightly frowned. She had checked on the red-bandanna turtle a few minutes ago, and he had barely progressed since they all started. He was working very slowly, as if every minute wasted caused his babysitter discomfort. "I'm afraid we'll have to leave Raphie out of the game. He hasn't finished his chores."

"Come on, show us how," Michelangelo demanded, not caring about his other brother.

"Okay, Mikey. This is how you play," Lavinya began, standing right in front of them with a mock-serious look on her face. "Now to be able to play the game, you all have to do what Simon says. But if I tell you to do something, you don't do it." She smiled at their perplexed faces. "So, if Simon Says to put your hands on your head," she put her hands on her head, "what do you do?"

The turtles hesitated a while before copying her actions.

"Very good," she told them happily. "Simon says, stand on one leg. Simon says, turn around," she said, doing everything that "Simon" said, watching the turtles mimic her. "Jump up and down," she finally said, jumping in the air.

All three turtles did the same without thinking.

"Ahh. Simon didn't say," Lavinya told them, shaking a finger at them.

The turtles, hands on head with one foot in the air, stopped jumping to think about what just happened. When they realized their mistake, they laughed finally understanding the game.

Each turtle wanted to have their turn as "Simon," and laughed loudly when someone did something "Simon" didn't tell them to. Eventually their laughter reached the other brother in the kitchen, who was brooding over the dirty dishes. Raphael put the plate he was cleaning back in the sink, and tiptoed to the doorway to peek out. The four forms were blocked from his view by the couch, so he could only see Lavinya's top half and the bouncing colorful bandanas of his brothers. Curiosity was more powerful than his contempt for the babysitter. His small reptilian feet were silent as he crept over to the couch. He hid as he watched the game, trying to figure out the rules.

"Raphie," Lavinya said, as she turned around and saw him. "Are you finished with your chores?"

Raphael was surprised that Lavinya saw him, but he was so immersed in watching the game that he didn't hide very well. At the question, Raphael looked down. "No."

"Then you need to finish before you can come out," Lavinya told him.

"Can I play when I'm done?" Raphael asked, looking at her.

"Yeah, you can play," Lavinya said with a smile.

Raphael dashed back to the kitchen and quickly started scrubbing the dishes. He rushed through everything Lavinya asked him to do, cutting a few corners that nobody would notice. Once finished, he raced back into the living room.

"I'm done! I'm done! Can I play now?" Raphael told Lavinya excitedly.

Lavinya placed her hands on her hips, and regarded the young turtle with a look of doubt. "You're done?"

"Yes, I am," Raphael half-shouted, nearly jumping out of his shell with energy.

"Well, if you're sure. . ." Lavinya said, slowly bending down to his level and tapped his head. ". . .Then you're It!"

Raphael stood in surprise as Lavinya ran away from him. His brothers squealed and did the same. It took him a while to figure out what was happening. With a bright smile, he took off after the closest target.

* * *

For the thousandth time, Lavinya checked her watch. It read 9:00. The four young turtles were fed and ready to be put to bed, but after that Lavinya was at a loss what to do. She couldn't just leave them after they have fallen asleep since she had no idea when Splinter would be back. But she couldn't stay the night in the sewers. It was cold, damp, and germ infested, and she had work tomorrow afternoon.

Then she thought of something that made her nerves twitch. What if Splinter didn't come back? What if something happened to him, like he was seen or hit by a car? He could be hurt and he can't get back? She would never know. Or maybe she misinterpreted how much time he needed to himself. Maybe a half a day wasn't enough.

Sighing heavily, she quickly made a decision. She would have to take the turtles back to her apartment.

"Okay, kids. Pack your toothbrushes. It's road trip time," she told the four turtles while clapping her hands together twice.

"Road trip?"

"Are we going somewhere?"

"Will Splinter be there?"

"What's a toothbrush?"

As she looked around the lair, she explained to them what was going on. "I'm sorry, guys, but I don't know when Splinter is coming home. I thought he would be home by now, but he may have just lost track of time. I can't stay here, I have homework I need to get done. So, I'm taking you all up to my apartment."

"Up to the surface?" Raphael piped up in amazement. His eyes were wide at the thought.

"But how will Splinter find us?" Leonardo asked, following the young woman around.

"I'll leave a note on the door. Splinter knows where I live," Lavinya told him, finally stopping in the turtles' bedrooms and picking up their blankets. "Here we go. Everyone, wrap up in one."

"Look, I'm a ninja," Michelangelo says, as he wraps the blanket around him so only his eyes were uncovered. He gives Raphael a sloppy round house to the back of the shell.

"You're dead, Mikey!" Raphael yelled, running after the youngest.

"Will you fix my bear there?" Donatello asked Lavinya as she helped wrap him up.

"Yeah, go get it?" Lavinya told him, grabbing Raphael and Michelangelo as they ran by. The two continued to fight in her grip, but she didn't give up until the two both had their blankets on. "Okay, let's go."

* * *

"Brittney. Brittney, are you home?" Lavinya called behind the half-opened door. The apartment was empty and dark. "Okay guys, come on in."

Three turtles raced in, their eyes taking in the sights of the apartment. Michelangelo, from his place in Lavinya's arms, wiggled to be put down. When they all left the sewers, the youngest had been very frightened by the loud noises and bright lights of the city, and wouldn't leave the dark ally unless he was carried. Raphael was also hesitant because of the large buildings and the people that were walking around. He spent the entire walk behind Lavinya, almost bumping into her while they walked. Leonardo held Lavinya's other hand, trying to be brave around his brothers. He knew what to expect, but because he was with Lavinya he wasn't as afraid. He marveled at the bright lights that he didn't see when he was on the surface two weeks ago. But every once in a while, a large man would walk close to them, and he would shirk away, hiding his eyes in his blanket. But unlike the rest of his brothers, Donatello would walk ahead, taking in all the sights he could, hugging the broken pieces of his bear whenever he needed comfort. His small eyes would dart everywhere, trying to learn everything at once. He had a million questions, asking them loudly, half the time not waiting for the explanation before his attention would wander somewhere else. A couple of times, Lavinya had to tell him not to wander off.

Lavinya was frustrated by the days events, and was glad to be back in her apartment. The four rambunctious boys had been almost too much for her, and she had little energy for their antics. All she wanted to do is put them to bed.

The four turtles abandoned their blankets on the floor, and went in different directions to explore their new surrounding.

"Lavie, what's that?" Donatello asked, pointing at the television set.

"That's a TV," Lavinya answered wearily, dropping her bag. "Mikey, don't jump on the couch."

The young turtle bounced off, and went somewhere else, most likely to cause some more trouble.

Lavinya collapsed on the couch where Michelangelo was jumping, and started rubbing her head. She could feel a headache coming on, and just wanted to go to bed. Then she smelt a strong odor coming off her hands. She gagged and coughed, realizing she reeked of sewer. She didn't notice before since she was used to the constant smell in the turtles' lair. She jumped off the couch, horrified that she was sitting there in her dirty clothes.

"Lavie, can I play with this?" Leonardo asked, holding an umbrella she kept by the door.

Lavinya cringed, knowing that as turtles ran around her apartment they were spreading the germs they picked up from the sewers. She took the umbrella, set it down, and then grabbed the turtle's hands. "Okay, bath time," she called. As she lead the turtle to the bathroom, she snatched up Donatello in her arms as he ran by.

"But we already had one yesterday," Michelangelo told her, as he and Raphael were herded away.

"You need it, Mikey. You stink," Raphael teased, holding his nose.

"Okay, none of that," Lavinya said, not wanting to break up another argument. She set all the turtles down, and started the water.

Leonardo was already taking his bandana and belt off, but the others hesitated. The older turtle showed his brothers that it was okay, stepped in and sat down. The others follow, excited about it.

"Wow, the water's warm," Donatello said, feeling the water.

Lavinya was a bit worried that the tub would be too small, but it was just enough for the four young turtles. When they were in, she smiled happily. "I have a surprise for all of you." She opened a cupboard, and pulled out a blue bottle with a Carebear on it. "Do you know what bubble bath is?" she asked.

The turtles all shook their heads, getting excited because she was. They were all fascinated as she poured a few cap-fulls in, and bubbles started forming around the stream of water. They pushed and shoved each other away to watch and touch the bubbles. Soon the bubbles spread throughout the entire bath so they all could have some.

While the turtles played in the bath, Lavinya gathered their bandanas, belts and blankets to put them in the washing machine. Just as she was throwing Donatello's bear in with the clothes, she looked closely at the stuffing. It was a yellowish grey color and a pungent smell wafted from it. Disgustedly, she pulled all the stuffing out, threw it in the trash and shoved the flat bear into the washing machine. She had some extra stuffing in her sewing bag, so she could fill it up later. While she turned on the washing machine, she heard loud voices coming from the bathroom.

"Mikey, turn it off."

"It's too high."

"Turn it off, Mikey."

"I'm trying. Which one do I turn?"

"It's too hot now."

"Ahhh! Water getting on the floor."

At this point, Lavinya had rushed to the bathroom to see what was going on. She nearly screamed at the sight of the four turtles playing with the faucets. The tub was overflowing, and water splashed onto the floor every time one of the turtles moved. Nearly on the breaking point, Lavinya hastened to the tub, turned the water off and pulled the drain.

The turtles stopped shouting and moving when they saw her face. Leonardo was the only one brave enough to do something. He picked up the bar of soap from its dish, quickly scrubbed himself, and rinsed.

"I'm ready to get out," he told Lavinya quietly.

Raphael was the next to use the soap, followed by Donatello and Michelangelo. They washed so quickly, that there was still water in the tub when they finished.

Still walking on glass, the turtles quickly dried themselves off with the towels Lavinya gave them.

"Lavie, we're sorry," Donatello told her, tugging at her shirt.

"I know," Lavinya said flatly, looking at him with a lethargic face. "I'm not mad, just a little tired. We all need to get some sleep."

She told them into her room, and situated them on her bed, two on each end with their feet in the middle. They shared one blanket, and used couch pillows for their heads.

"Where will you sleep?" Raphael asked with curiosity.

"On the couch. Now go to sleep." She turned the light off, and closed the door. Letting out a loud sigh, she moved to the bathroom to start cleaning up the water. After that she took her own shower, scrubbing roughly to rid herself of the smell. Before going to bed, she checked the clothes in the washing machine. After determining that the clothes still smelled, she started it again. She took an extra blanket from the hall closet, and collapsed on the couch. She was exhausted from the day, and was worried about when Splinter would come back. Quickly, she fell asleep, dreaming of scenarios of raising the turtles on her own.

* * *

The sliver of a moon rose above the black river as a small wooden raft gently floated down it. The raft was crudely constructed of large branches and abandoned logs held together with a few yards of old rope. The owner of the raft sat in a lotus position, enjoying the night air and the soft sounds of the river and it's wildlife.

Splinter never meant to build the raft, but when he started gathering firewood he couldn't help himself. He finished it just as the sun went down, and he had to try out his creation. Soon he was sailing down the river toward what he expected was Hudson River. He figured he would ride the river until sunrise, then find a sewer lid and be home before the turtles even woke up. The river ride made him feel more relaxed and calm, and the thought of returning to his sons made him feel very happy. Thinking about his young students, he fell asleep.

* * *

"Lavie, wake up."

Lavinya moaned, and pulled the blanket over her head hoping to block out the voices that wanted to take her away from her blissful sleep.

"I'm hungry. Please get up."

"Raphie, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to wake her up," Raphael responded, climbing onto the couch arm near Lavinya's head.

"I don't think you should do that," Leonardo told him. "Lavie might get mad."

"I won't do anything," Raphael shot back, angry to be reprimanded by his brother. He leaned forward, and started poking at a part of the human's face that wasn't covered. Lavinya pushed his hand away, and moaned. Raphael laughed, thinking she looked funny. He did it again. But to his surprise, the blanket jumped up at him, and pulled him down. He screamed, as the cloth wrapped itself around him. "Ahhh, let me out!"

The three other turtles stepped back as the blanket came alive and began consuming their brother. They didn't know what to do when he started screaming for their help. It wasn't until they heard his laughter that they started to join in, climbing onto the couch, to either help Raphael or to tickle him.

Their game came to an abrupt end when a door noisily opened.

"Hey, Lav. Could you turn down the TV? Us night people are still sleeping?"

Lavinya froze, turning around to her roommate's door to make sure she couldn't see the turtles. "Sorry, Britt. Go back to sleep."

The door closed, and Lavinya relaxed. "Who wants breakfast?"

* * *

"Where are we going, Lavie?"

"Are we going to school?"

"No, Leo. We're just going to a few places until my roommate goes to work."

"Are there going to be humans? I'm scared." Michelangelo latched onto her leg.

"It's okay, kids. Nobody's going to hurt you," she said, straightening her NY hat on the youngest turtle. "Everyone will think that you're humans, too, as long as you keep those clothes on." Lavinya had to admit, though, the disguises weren't the greatest. The kids looked funny in her large T-shirts, shorts and hats, not to mention their colored bandanas over their eyes. They weren't wearing any shoes, but she was hopping to buy some at a thrift store while they were out. "Come on, out the door. Hurry, so we don't wake up Brittney. And I have to be back in time to go to work."

"Lav, are you leaving?"

Lavinya turned to see her half-awake friend shuffle into the living room, still in PJs. "Yeah, just going to go shopping. I won't be back until you go to work, so I'll see ya tonight. Do you need anything?"

Brittney yawned and shook her head. "Okay, see ya."

Lavinya was almost out the door when Brittney asked, "Who're the squirts?"

"They're my brother's kids. He was in town, and asked me to spend the day with them," Lavinya quickly fibbed.

"I thought your brother wasn't married," Brittney countered.

"No, my other brother. The older one. Gotta run." She quickly ushered the turtles out, and shut the door. "That was close."

"Lavie, what were those metal things coming out of her nose?" Donatello asked loudly.

Lavinya blew some hair away from her face, didn't answer and pushed them down the stairs. The first place they went to was a thrift store nearby, in which bought the turtles shoes and socks. The turtles didn't like the shoes having never worn any before, and they didn't fit their turtle feet well. Their complaining would only be hushed by small ice-cream cones sold by a street vendor. They relished their first taste of the cold, dairy treat which they dribbled all over her clothes.

The last place they went was a super market, the worst place on earth to take four children, Lavinya found out. It was tough enough to figure out what she needed, but she also had to keep an eye on all four turtles, who had a knack of disappearing whenever inconvenient. It was a miracle that she didn't "forget" any of them.

When they arrived back at the apartment, she sat them on the couch and turned on the TV. "Okay, kiddies, here are the rules," she said, preparing them for when she would leave them alone. "All you need to do is sit and watch TV. Don't touch or play with anything. If someone knocks on the door, don't answer it or say anything. Don't touch the phone," she continued to yell as she went into her room to change. "Don't make a mess, and don't touch the phone. Are any of you listening to me?" She walked out with some black shoes and video tapes in her hands, only to find the four turtles staring blankly at the television. "And don't sit so close to the TV. You'll ruin your eyes."

The turtles didn't move.

"Here's some videos that you can watch," she said, handing the tapes to Raphael who just set them in his laps. While tying her shoes, she looked up. "What are you guys watching?" She saw the joyful face of Oprah Winfrey telling her audience about some author's new book. She picked up the remote from the coffee table, and changed the channel to PBS where Cookie Monster was talking about, surprise surprise, cookies.

"How did you do that?" Donatello asked, grabbing the remote, surprising Lavinya. He didn't wait for an answer, but started pressing random buttons.

"I guess you guys never seen a TV before," Lavinya laughed, as they crowded around Donatello. "Major culture shock, huh?" Patiently, she showed them what the remote did, what buttons not to push and how to work the VCR. "Okay, you have TV, and you have movies. I guess that's it. Oh, and food." She ran into the kitchen, and pulled out some easy finger food. She put the food on the table and headed for the door. "Lock the door behind me, and don't leave the apartment."

"Where are you going?" Leonardo asked, looking away from the TV.

"I told all of you, I have to go to work," she said exasperated.

"You're leaving us ALONE," Michelangelo said in shock.

"When will you be back?" Donatello asked.

"See that clock," she said pointing at the time teller on the wall. "When the big line is pointing at the very top, and when the little hand is pointing at this number" she pointed at the three, "I will be home. You guys be good, and have fun."

Then she left them alone.

* * *

"Hello?"

"Hello."

"Um. . .Is Britt home?"

"Britt? No she left."

"Donnie, put that down."

"No, I had it first."

"Um. . .Is Lavinya there?"

"Donnie, we're not suppose to touch that."

"But a voice is coming out of it."

"Hey, little dude. Is Lavinya there?"

"No, it's mine. I had it first."

". . . Hello?"

"Hey, what's going on here?"

"I wasn't playing with it."

"Is the phone for me?" Pause. "Hello?"

"Brit? What's going on there? Why are there kids at your apartment?"

"Oh, yeah. Lav's. . .um. . .nephews came to visit. What's up?"

"What 'cha you doin' tonight?"

* * *

When Splinter woke up from his well-needed night's sleep, he found that he was exactly right about the river he was on emptying into the Hudson River. His raft had found a small sand bar to wash up on that was covered by an old pier. From there he could see New York City. The problem was that he was on the wrong side of the wide river. The tall skyscrapers of his home stood almost taunting him that he was so far away. The obstacle of the river left him a great dilemma since if he left the shade of the pier, it was very likely he would be seen. He had no choice but to wait the day out until he could return to his children. Splinter felt a tinge of sorrow and guilt for leaving the turtles, and thought how worried the turtles must be for him to return. It pained him to think that he would have to spend another day away from them, but there was no other way for him to get to the city without being seen. Lavinya would have to take care of them for just one more day.

* * *

Lavinya never worked a longer four hour shift, busting tables and waiting on cranky customers. During the lunch hours, the Italian restaurant where she worked was packed, and the stress of leaving the turtles alone only added to the problems at work. She felt so horrible about abandoning the turtles, and kept imagining Splinter coming while she was gone. He would never trust her again. She thought about calling during her break, but she did instruct them to not touch the phone. Finally her replacement came at three o'clock to let her go home. After calculation how long it would take her to run to the apartment, she figured she had fifteen minutes to dress the turtles up in their disguises before Brittney would arrive.

Ten minutes later, her key was turning in a lock that wasn't locked. She opened the door questioningly, and timidly walked in.

"So, when were you going to tell me about your dear nephews?" Brittney asked, Michelangelo in her lap while sitting on the couch. Leonardo and Raphael were on the floor playing with her Sega game system.

"Brit, I can explain. . ."Lavinya started.

"I don't think I want you to," Brittney said with a smirk. "I don't want to know what your brother has been doing."

Chuckling, Lavinya plopped down on the couch. "It's much weirder than anything you could come up with," she told her friend.

"I don't know. I have a pretty twisted mind."

After surveying the turtles, Lavinya asked, "Where's Donny?"

"Over there," Brittney pointed to a corner behind them. "He's in trouble. And we don't have a phone anymore."

"Uh-oh. What happened?"

"I turned my back on the little bas. . .I mean sweetheart, and he was taking apart our phone."

"Is my time up?" Donatello shouted from his corner.

"Come here," Lavinya called, holding out her arms. Donatello climbed into her lap, and let her hold him. "Now, what have you learned, Donnie?"

"Don't take phones apart," Donatello said solemnly.

"He took it apart?" Lavinya whispered and saw Brittney nod.

"He was trying to get my friend out who was on the other line," Brittney added, laughing.

"I promise I'll fix it," Donatello told her solemnly.

"It's okay, Donnie. As long as you don't do it again."

Brittney leaned toward her friend. "By the way, I'm going out with the guys in a little while. We'll be back late, so I'll try not to wake you."

"Lavie?" Michelangelo pulled on her sleeve, his large eyes looking at her sadly. "When can we go home? I miss Splinter."

Lavinya patted the homesick turtle on his shell. "I'm sure he'll be here tonight." Brittney raised an eyebrow at this, which started the explanation how the turtles came into Lavinya's care.

"So, when is this Splinter guy suppose to pick them up?" Brittney asked after Lavinya's story.

"I don't know. He didn't say how long he was going to be gone."

At that time, Raphael's muscle bound fighter was brought down by Leonardo's abominable snowman, declaring the latter the winner. Leonardo raised his arms in victory, making sure to rub it in his brother's face.

"My turn," Michelangelo proclaimed, jumping off of Brittney's lap. He tried to grab the game controller from Raphael, who pulled it back. "Raphie, it's my turn."

"Just one more game, Mikey."

"No, Britt said I get to play looser," Michelangelo whined, pulling on the controller cord.

"Let go." When the younger turtle wouldn't, Raphael smacked his brother across the head.

Michelangelo's hands went to his offended head, and tears welled up in his eyes.

Instantly, Raphael knew he was in trouble. "Mikey, I'm sorry. Shhhh. I'm sorry."

Michelangelo ran to Lavinya, who picked him up and glared at the offender.

"Raphael, you don't hit your brother," Lavinya berated, rubbing the crying turtle's back. "Drop the controller, and come with me."

As Lavinya handed Michelangelo to her roommate, Brittney added, "Our bathroom needs to be cleaned."

"I don't think it's right to have child labor clean our apartment," Lavinya told her, giving her a look that said she wished they could. "I think you had the right idea with Donnie." She instructed Raphael to stand in the corner.

"How long do I have to stay here?" Raphael grumbled, now angry that he was being punished.

"Until I say so," was the reply.

Raphael folded his arms in a pout, and leaned his head against the wall.

"Are you okay, Mikey?"

The young turtle nodded and rubbed his eyes.

"Do you still want to play?"

He nodded again. "Can I play with you?"

Lavinya smiled, happy that he would want to play the game with her. "Sure, but you have to sit on the floor. The cord's not long enough."

Michelangelo instead sat in her lap while they played the fighting game. It was his first turn at the game, and didn't know how to use the controller. Lavinya was practically in the same boat. She didn't care for video games, and only played when Brittney insisted. She did have the advantage of knowing which buttons to push. But graciously, she lost two out of three rounds on purpose to let Michelangelo play the next person, Donatello.

"Okay, Raphie, I think you've been in time out long enough," Lavinya decided, getting up from the floor. When she turned around, she frowned. The corner was empty. "Raphie!" she shouted, storming down the hall way, opening each door to look for him. It wasn't long until she found him hiding under her bed, holding onto one of the legs. She pried his six fingers away, and carried him kicking and screaming back into the living room.

"Bundle of joy, that one is," Brittney commented.

"You aren't helping," Lavinya shot at her, struggling with the determined escapee.

"I think I have an idea." Brittney grabbed Raphael's legs, and instructed Lavinya to lay him on his back. As soon as he was down, they stepped away.

Once free from the two women's hold, Raphael rocked and rolled around struggling to get off his shell. To his surprise, he couldn't get up no matter what he tried. His arms were too short to reach the floor or anything else that would give him leverage, and his legs only pushed or spun him around. He screamed in frustration as he continued his futile efforts.

"Thank you discovery channel," Brittney joked, smiling at the wobbly turtle.

"I think you enjoy this too much," Lavinya told her trying not to smile.

"I told you I have a twisted mind."

Raphael finally gave one last protest before pouting once again.

It wasn't long after that, when a knock came at the door. Without being let in, two guys stepped in.

"Britt. Hey, girl."

"WHOA! Look at the giant turtles."

All four pairs of turtles eyes were turned on the strangers, bulging out of their bandanas and slightly afraid.

The one who just noticed them was a tall skinny guy with long blond hair that covered up most of his face. He slouched with his hands in his baggy ripped jeans pants. He wore a plaid-patterned blue button shirt over a white T-shirt. His final accessory was a leather necklace with a shark's tooth tied on. The other guy was shorter and much more muscled than his companion, and had dark almost ebony skin with a large purple mohawk. His eyes were covered by dark square shades with purple frames, and a gold ring going through his right nostril. He was adorned in a white T-shirt that had ripped sleeves with a red vest over it and khaki colored knee length shorts.

"Dude, those are big turtles. Cool," the darker one said.

"They aren't turtles, Bebop," Brittney told them. She was going to make a bogus explanation, but the blond interrupted her.

"Then those are the weirdest looking dogs I've even seen," Rocksteady snorted, elbowing his companion.

"Lav is making costumes for her nephews," Brittney explained. "For um. . ."

"It's their school play. They're doing. . .um. . ."

"The story about the tortoise and the hare."

"Dude," Bebop wowed. "You so rock, Lavinya. You're totally gonna have to make my Halloween costume."

"Yeah, mine too. Dude, I want to be a turtle."

"That would be so cool," Bebop said, bobbing his head up and down. "Whoa, what's wrong with little red over there." He pointed at Raphael who was ogling the giant in the doorway.

"He's in trouble," Lavinya answered.

"You go, little red," Rocksteady cheered, lifting his fist. "Stick it to the man."

Lavinya gave him a half-frown and raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, we're leaving," Brittney declared, pushing her friends out the door.

As they were going out the door, Bebop spoke up. "Hey, don't turtles die if they stay on their backs?"

"Dude, you totally watch the discovery channel."

"I know."

The door closed, shutting out whatever else they were saying.

"I'm going to die?!" Raphael shouted, his eyes wide as watermelons.

Lavinya sighed. "You've been fine all this time. You're not going to die."

"But he said turtles die on their backs," Raphael shouted, his voice cracking. He started rocking round frantically, waving his arms around. "I don't want to die!"

Lavinya could hear the young turtle breathing heavily. Quickly she righted the hyperventilating turtle, and helped him calm down. "You're alright. You're okay. Calm down."

Raphael rubbed a few tears that were forming and slowly went back to breathing normally.

"Okay, Raphie. Will you be good while you play with your brothers?"

Raphael nodded and toddled off to the TV.

Lavinya took a look at the turtles, playing the video games. For the past thirty-six hours, they have demanded every shred of spare time she had, allowing no time for her to do some homework. She remembered she had an assignment due by Monday, and she guessed she could finish it if she could get away for a few minutes. Just as she was sneaking away, she heard one of them call out, "Lavie, I'm hungry."

Turning around, she tromped off to the kitchen. "Okay, I'll fix something."

The padded thumping of little feet followed her into the kitchen.

"What are you going to make?" Michelangelo asked.

"Hmmm. Let's see what we have," Lavinya mulled, looking through the refrigerator and cupboards. Trying to think of something kids would eat, she pulled out a container of Pillsbury croissant dough and a can of Vienna sausages. "Have any of you had pigs-in-a-blanket?"

She showed them how to roll the sausage in the croissant dough, and then let them make their own. All of them decided to make a second one, except for Raphael who wandered out disinterested.

"Okay, let's put them on the cooking pan and heat up the oven," Lavinya explained. While they were doing this, they heard the door open and shut. "Britt, did you forget something?"

Silence.

"Britt? Raphie, did someone come in?"

Nobody answered.

"Shoot," she muttered and ran out of the apartment. Just barely she saw a turtle shell round a corner, and ran after it. "Raphie!"

Pumping his legs as fast as he could, Raphael sprinted down the next hallway, hoping to escape from the woman barreling toward him. Unfortunately, he didn't know where he was going and went in the wrong direction. Where he thought the stairs would be, was instead a dead end of apartment doors.

"Where were you going?" Lavinya asked in a slow but angry tone, approaching him carefully. "You're not allowed out of the apartment. Where were you going?"

"I was going home," Raphael shouted. "I don't want to stay here. I want to go home. I hate it here! I hate you!"

If Lavinya was affected by Raphael's words, she didn't show it. However, it may be because her face was already emitting an aura of anger. "Raphie, you can't go home until Splinter comes back. Until then, you must stay in my apartment."

"No, I'm not going back!"

Lavinya grabbed his arm, and started pulling him. "Yes, you are. Now hurry before you are seen."

"I don't care! Leggo!"

"Raphie, quit it! What would Splinter say if he saw you act this way?"

"Splinter doesn't care because he's not coming back!"

"What?" Lavinya let go of Raphael's arm. "What do you mean?"

"Splinter's not coming back because he hates me," Raphael told her angrily. He then looked down at the floor, his tiny fists clenched.

Her face softening, Lavinya knelt down. "Splinter doesn't hate you."

"Yes he does. That's why he left," Raphael stated, his lower lip trembling. "I fought with Leo and Mikey, and it was my fault Donnie's bear ripped. Splinter is mad at me, and he left because he doesn't want me anymore." Raphael's voice cracked while he spoke, and fat tears formed in his eyes before being sponged up by his bandana.

Lavinya pulled the face mask away so that the tears would get the red cloth wet, and then pulled the young turtle into a hug. Raphael clung to her, sobbing into her shirt. Lavinya realized that this child had been harboring these feelings throughout the past two days, thinking that his actions were the cause of his father's abandonment, which he was sure would be permanent.

"You poor thing," Lavinya murmured, rubbing the young turtle's shell. "Raphie, let me tell you something. Your father loves you very much. And right now, he's probably thinking of you all and coming home."

That seemed to calm him down, and his sobs became less frequent.

"Will you come back to the apartment?" Lavinya waited for a nod before picking the turtle up, and carrying him back.

"Is Raphie in trouble?" Donatello asked when they came back.

"Go back to your game and don't worry about Raphie," Lavinya told him in a gentle but firm voice. She took Raphael into the kitchen and set him on the counter. "I know what will help you feel better," Lavinya told him with a wink. "Whenever I felt homesick while visiting my grandma, she'd always baked me cookies. I think some of Britt's Oreos will do for today." She handed him a pair of black and white cookies.

Slowly, Raphael ate the cookies, small tears still falling down his cheeks. He watched as Lavinya put the cookie sheet in the oven, and left him alone in the kitchen. His tears melted away as he became interested in what the woman brought back into the kitchen. Under her arm was a bag of stuffing, and in her hands was some thread, a needle, and the newly cleaned skin of Donatello's bear.

"Are you going to fix Donnie's bear?" he asked quietly.

"Yes. I forgot about it since last night, and it's a good thing that you reminded me," she said to him, while filling the skin up with cotton. "Tell you what. After I'm finished, you can give the bear back to your brother. How's about that?"

Raphael nodded readily, watching Lavinya carefully sew the head back onto the bear's almost nonexistent shoulders. Raphael kept his eyes on his babysitter's nimble fingers as they deftly pushed and pulled the needle back and forth, giving the bear an invisible seam. She finished it by tying a knot in the thread, and cutting the excess off with some scissors.

"Here you go," Lavinya said, tying the bandana back onto Raphael's head. She then kissed his cheek, and rubbed his head. "You're a good kid, you know that." She then helped him off the counter, gave the bear to him, and directed him out of the kitchen.

As Raphael left, he turned around to look at his babysitter with a half smile on his face. She didn't see it, since her back saw turned to him, and was looking in the oven. He then ran to his brothers, presenting the bear to Donatello.

* * *

The sun sank down into the horizon like a ball rolling down a hill in slow motion. Shadows stretched as far as they could before everything faded into darkness. Everything except the city that never sleeps, the bright lights acting as a beacon for miles around. This is exactly what worried Splinter as he swiftly rowed across the harbor, the light of New York were just too bright for him to be completely invisible. He would still have to be careful, in case someone was looking out at the river or on the beach nearby. But he had no problems, not even the wind stirred up the water.

After abandoning the raft near the beach, it was only a matter of minutes before he found a sewer entrance, and scurried down into his domain, into his home. His rat senses were easily able to lead him back to the lair, where he grew excited about reuniting with his sons. But to his disappointment, the lair was dark and empty. Posted on the door was a single note, explaining the location of the four turtlelings.

He should have known that Lavinya couldn't stay in the sewers for two days. She was human and her life was on the surface. He couldn't have expected her to drop everything to take care of four boisterous boys. He just hoped they behaved themselves around her home.

* * *

Bedtime came, and still no Splinter. Lavinya wanted to put them to go to sleep, but they wanted to wait up longer for Splinter. Tired herself, she gave in, and let them watch a movie before they went to bed. Sitting on the couch with Donatello in her arms, she watched the show with them. On one side of her sat Leonardo, and to her surprise Raphael quickly sat on the other. Michelangelo sat next to Raphael, until Lavinya had to separate them after a poking war broke out. Halfway through the movie, all of them were slumbering, with the two at her side leaning against her and Michelangelo using the oldest as a pillow. Half because she didn't want to disturb them and half out of laziness, Lavinya stayed on the couch, flipping through the channels for something to watch. One program led to another, until she too was dozing with the children.

As they slept, a clawed hand slowly opened the window, and a shadow, as quiet as a ninja, stepped into the apartment. The only light was the flickering of the TV and the city lights coming in from the window, but it was enough for the shadow to find the five figures. The intruder hesitated, not sure if he should wake them up just yet. For a few minutes, he watched them, a gentile smile on his face. After a while, he reached out his clawed hand, and placed it on the nearest turtle, Michelangelo.

"Michelangelo, my son," he whispered as he rubbed the turtle's head. "Wake up, Michelangelo."

The youngest turtle whined a little, and snuggled closer to his brother, not wanting to wake up. When the voice continued to call to him, he opened one eye lazily, slowly focusing on the form. "Splinter?" Michelangelo muttered still groggy. "Splinter!" he shouted, suddenly awake.

The shout abruptly woke Lavinya up, startling the three turtles that were snuggled around her. She turned her sleepy eyes just in time to see Michelangelo launch himself at the giant rat that seemed to have appeared into her apartment. She reached over, and turned on a lamp and turn off the TV.

"Easy, my son. You're always so energetic," Splinter told his youngest as he barely caught the turtle.

"Splinter!" Leonardo shouted, hearing the rat's voice and looking around quickly.

Donatello, in his excitement, had trouble untangling himself out of a blanket he had. Lavinya had to stand up, and help him to his feet before he flopped onto the floor. The two ran to their father, talking in excited voice and asking questions about where he's been. Splinter took them all in a hug, his attention going from one turtle to another. After a few moments of this, he realized someone was missing.

"Raphael? Where is Raphael?" he asked, his voice anxious.

Lavinya turned around, thinking that the turtle was still asleep on the couch, but the cushion was empty. She felt some pressure near her knee, and looked down to see Raphael peeking behind her legs, his small hand grasping her jean pant leg.

"Raphael, what's the matter?" Splinter asked, holding out an arm.

Lavinya frowned, and thought about what Raphael told her when he ran away. _Splinter's not coming back because he hates me. Splinter is mad at me, and he left because he doesn't want me anymore._ Thinking of Raphael's words, she could see that Raphael wanted to go to his father, but was apprehensive because of what he had done the other day.

Smiling down at him, Lavinya patted his back shell. "Go on," she told him. "It will be alright."

With a timidness that was unlike him, Raphael approached his father with down cast eyes.

"Raphael?" Splinter's voice was filled with puzzlement. He became even more surprised as he son stopped a small distance away, and bowed.

"I'm sorry, Sensei," Raphael said almost in a whisper. "I'm sorry for the trouble that I caused you."

Bewilderment crossed the old rat's face. He could not believe how grown up his son was acting. Such a formal apology seemed much to mature for a child of four years old. He had taught his sons such behaviors, but never expected any of them to use them at this age. A strange feeling swelled up in his chest, one that made him feel as if his children were growing too fast, and that they would age right in front of him. He had an urge to stop the process, to keep them as young as he could. Kneeling down in front of his son, he wrapped him in his furry embrace. "No, my son. You are not trouble at all. You are a blessing in my life. You all are."

Raphael's stiffness disappeared, and he returned his father's hug.

Lavinya tottered on her feet, feeling as if she was the one who didn't belong, yet she was the only one who lived in the apartment. She looked at the walls, the ceiling, the empty TV, anything to make her feel like she wasn't intruding. Finally, Splinter cleared his throat, and she cast her attention back to the family.

"Thank you so much, Lavinya, for taking care of my sons," Splinter bowed to her, repeating after his actions were his sons. "I hope they didn't cause any strife to you."

"Yeah, they did," she said bluntly, which startled all of them. Then smiled pleasantly. "But that's what makes life interesting. I'd be happy for them to mess up my life again, only please give me a little more warning."

Splinter chuckled at her joke. "I see my sons have left an imprint on your life. I'm sure they would be happy to come visit you."

All the turtles started voicing their agreement at once.

"I want to come back and fix Lavie's phone," Donatello said out of the blue.

Splinter turned to him. "You broke her phone?"

Lavinya jumped in. "It's okay. It was an old one, and I was thinking a buying a new one. It's really okay." She didn't want any conflict to happen between the turtles as their father, especially since Splinter just returned. She was about to say something else, when the best detraction she could ask for appeared.

Brittney came home.

"Yo. You guys still up?"

"Yeah. The turtles' father just came by. Britt, I want you to meet Splinter. Splinter, this is my room mate Brittney. I think you've already met her."

Splinter's nerves were still on ends at the sudden entrance of the young woman, who seemed none too concerned that a giant rat was standing in her living room.

"Oh, yeah. He's your grandfather, right?" Brittney asked, hands on hips. "Nice to me cha'. Man, Lav, you've got a weird family."

Lavinya laughed. "Sorry, Splinter, but I couldn't keep the turtles a secret. But Britt's cool, aren't ya."

"Who'd believe me?"

Splinter cleared his throat, wondering how this woman was able to stay so calm. He asked her so choosing his words delicately.

This was her reply. "This is New York. I'm sure there's a lot weirder things out there."


	3. Chapter 3: Growth

_Splinter is the awesome-est father we could ever have asked for. He did everything for us. Fed us, kept us safe, taught us everything we needed to know, like ninjutsu. As kids, we never understood our ninja training, and we complained almost constantly about how hard it was, and neglected our training. Well, maybe more than the others, and I guess I still kind of do that. Anyway, the ways of the ninja have helped us in many ways, like sneaking up on Raph or stealing from Donnie's candy stash. But the real reason Splinter taught us ninjutsu was to be able to hide from the humans. He taught us how to be invisible and to not be seen by them. Even though Lavie wasn't a ninja master, she also taught us how to be invisible, and how to hide among humans._

Heros in the Past, Children of Honor

Chapter 3: Growth

By Emilou

(Three months later)

Lavinya sat on the couch, her notebook open to a rough draft of a report she was writing for a class. In the class, she was supposed to write about someone she knew that has helped her or changed her life. Although she loved her room mate and family, Brit didn't help her with anything and she hadn't seen her parents or siblings for a couple of years. Her only alternatives were her mysterious visitors that came and went without a trace whenever they needed her help. Although the assignment stated a person to write about, she decided to write about the four little children she babysat every now and then. Of course, she would casually leave out the fact that these children were mutated turtles and were raised by their father who was a rat. She somehow suspected the teacher would not buy that, and give her a failing grade along with a one way free trip to the psych ward. After tearing out the rough draft, she started revising her work onto a clean sheet of paper, so she could quickly type it up on the computers at school. While she copied and added to her paper, an old 80s tape played on her stereo, drowning out any noise that came from the bedroom which the said turtle children she was writing about were playing.

Ever since the fateful weekend when the human-like rat dropped his four turtles sons in her lap, she had become lovingly attached to them. In the three months between then and now, Splinter had kept in contact with her, often leaving the kids with her for a few hours at a time, either for her benefit or his. She delighted in taking care of them, and buying them small gifts every now and then. When the turtles were around, it felt like home to her, and any homesickness she had felt in the past melted away. All of her family lived too far away for her to visit, but the turtles were a perfect substitute for any little cousins, nieces and nephews that she missed.

She knew Splinter was hesitant at first to let the turtles stay with her again after his "vacation," but the turtles wouldn't listen to him. They insisted on visiting her as much as they could. After that, Splinter relented to leaving the four kids at her place whenever he needed to go to the surface for his errands, finding it a much better solution to leaving the turtles alone while they slept. He once told her he felt like he was taking advantage of Lavinya since it was like a free baby-sitting service, and in reply Lavinya told him if he didn't leave them at her place once in a while, she'd kidnap them. She did know where they lived. The rat just chuckled at her bluntness and relented in partial custody. He even would linger at her apartment to talk to her, enjoying communicating to another adult for once in his life. And in return, she enjoyed conversing with the rat, listening to his stories about his life with Hamato Yoshi, and the fateful meeting of the turtles with the glowing green ooze. She soon saw Splinter, not as a rat, but as an uncle or grandfather-like relative.

Lavinya pulled herself out of thoughts of the rat and back to her English paper, letting the music set up the beat as she wrote a few lines down. She listened carefully, making out a few noises from the four turtles playing in her bedroom, checking to see if they were playing nicely. Even as she concentrated on the words on the notebook, she couldn't help but smile at one or two words she picked up from the hallway. If it wasn't for her blasted finals, she would have been in with the children, playing with them. She felt very childish thinking about procrastinating a bit more, and was determined to get as much done as she could.

After all of the visits she had from them, Lavinya had gotten to know each of them very well. Not only could she now identify them by their looks (even without their bandanas), but she also saw each turtle's different personality and uniqueness. Her first impressions of each turtle wasn't exact since they were at first shy around her, but now that familiarity has settled in they came out of their shell, so to speak, and let her know who they really are. Because of their attachment to her, she felt a lot more happy with her life, which was a big change. From this, she wrote about each of the turtles in her paper.

"Leo, the oldest of the foursome, was the sweetest little child I had ever met. At least that was my first impression of him. He was always smiling, and he would automatically do as he was told. To me, he seemed like the perfect child. But the perfect child doesn't exist, and soon I found Leo's other side. Leo loves to please others and be the center of attention as long as it's positive, but he has little patience with his brothers when they don't act like him. Sometimes he will try to order his brothers to do something, just like their father would say, and can be very bossy. If he doesn't get his way, he will try to force his brothers to do it, which backfires on him most of the time. I was very surprised when I first saw Leo rough housing with one of his brothers, who were fighting over something so menial like the TV. But even with this mean streak, Leo is the peacemaker of the brothers. He will go through many lengths to defend the outmatched brother in a fight, and try to resolve the problem. But since he is only four years old, sometimes he adds to the problem and ends up fighting anyway. Leo has taught me patience. I have never seen a child who could sit longer or wait so serenely than this little one."

Lavinya looked over the paragraph, changing a few things and correcting some punctuation before she moved on.

"Raphie is almost the exact opposite of his older brother. At first glance he seems to get along with Leo, and sometimes their moods are so similar that they could be in tune to one another. When one's happy the other is also, if one is unhappy. . .well. . .then both will soon become unhappy. Out of the four brothers, Raphie is the one I need a break from most of all since he takes everything negative as a challenge, and he will retaliate either vocally or physically. He acts like it's a personal goal to make his brothers fight with him. But in all honesty, he really loves to wrestle. Once I break up a fight between him and another brother, Raphie is in a better mood as if trying to burn off excess steam. And to make sure there are no hard feelings between the siblings, I find Raphie doing something nice to the offended brother minutes later. When I first met Raphie, I thought he would be a first class troublemaker, but now that I've gotten to know him he's really sweet. Like all children, he just wants attention, it just a lot of times he goes more for the negative attention. But it's hard to grow up in a family of four brothers that are all the same age, so I can see that once in a while they all need to push their way into the spot light. It does make my day when Raphie 'calls' to sit by me for a while or watching TV."

Once again, Lavinya read the paragraph she just wrote before continuing on.

"If Raph is good at causing a ruckus, Mikey is even worse. But unlike his brother, Mikey doesn't go looking for a fight, just a reaction. He loves to bug and tease his brothers to the point that they start to retaliate physically. At that point Mikey always runs away, still mocking the brother who is chasing him. It's not that he's a coward, he just doesn't seem to like to fight. He's one that knows that life is fun and exciting, and shouldn't be wasted on negative emotions. But if he finds himself in a brawl, he has as much fight and energy as Raphie. Out of all the brothers, he is the least likely to hold a grudge, oftentimes forgetting about an offense only moments ago. He is the youngest, and as such he is often given the short end of the stick. But he always takes their teasing in good nature and sometimes relishes in the attention. His biggest joy is to make others laugh, whatever it took to get a smile he would do it. He must have taken my roommate as a challenged since he bothered her for nearly a week until he was awarded her rare genuine laughs. Since then, she's declared him her 'favorite,' and sometimes I can't help but fall into his antics."

There was some loud bumping noises, and laughter in the back that brought Lavinya out of her writing trace. She called out to see what was happening, only to be rewarded with a chorus of "Nothing"s. She was determined to find out what adventure they were getting into after finished up her last paragraph.

"I could not choose a favorite out of the four, they're all such good boys. However the one that does give me the most heartache and grief is the last of the brothers, Donny. When I first met the brothers, I thought Donny was the cute, shy one. I still stand by that he's really cute, but I can no longer say he's shy. Fearlessly curious is more like him, and he's the one who has the knack of finding trouble. I'm in constant fear for my appliances since Donny likes to take them apart to find out how they work. So far I've lost a toaster, two light switches, both mine and my roommate's alarm clocks, my stereo and two phones. And every time I catch him fiddling with a new electronic, he claims to be able to fix it. After a stern talking to, he swears it will never happen again. But it never stays in his head once he finds a new 'toy' to play with. It always amazes me how intelligent he is though, since he is the one that catches on to things quicker than the others. That's the grief part, however it's the heartaches that Donny gives me that makes me worry about him. Donny is the daredevil of the brother, never taking into consideration what damage some of his stunts could do. Once I left the room for two minutes, and found Donny trying to do a back-flip off of my couch, probably goaded into it by his brothers. Donny seems to have no fear. One minute I can find him crying and bleeding from one of his latest stunts, and after I patched him off he'll try something else. He's the reason I now have a first aid kit. I really worry about him. But all that worry is worth it when I see him sleeping peacefully, a smile on his face and his stuffed bear held tightly in. . . ."

A loud thump interrupted Lavinya's thoughts, causing her to stop her pencil in mid-sentence. She listened for a while, and then heard some shouts of protests before deciding to go investigate the noise. Expecting another mess to clean up, she rushed into her bed room to almost fall onto her rump at the scene before her eyes. Seeing the many clothes, shoes and accessories strewn around the floor, she guessed the four turtles had raided her closet and drawers to play "dress up".

Donatello, the turtle that closest to the door and Lavinya, was holding a large sun hat with bright plastic sunflowers to his head. A long string of fake pearls was looped around his neck twice which complemented his black shawl, and red and white flowered skirt. Finally, he sported a pair of open toed slim high heels that made him totter around clumsily.

Leonardo, who was steadying his younger brother, looked as if he found Lavinya's box of Halloween costume, since he had a set of colorful butterfly wings were strapped to his shell. He also wore a red, gem studded belt tied around his head. A bright green scarf wrapped around his neck and neon pink leg warmers over his arms went very well with some black shorts he was trying to pull on over some large platform sandals.

Michelangelo went a little bit more on the punk side with a tie-dyed scarf that replaced his bandana over his head, and a pair of large dark sunglasses that made him look like a bug. Over his three fingered hands, he wore some fluffy black mittens; around his neck was a large beach towel to give him a cape. Finally to finish his outfit, he had slipped on Lavinya's dark blue winter boots with fluffy pom-poms.

It was Raphael that made her laugh the most with a white bucket hat on his head, striped stockings over his arms, a glittery belt around his waste, and large slippers that looked like monster feet. The picture was completed with one of Lavinya's bikini tops correctly secured around his chest, which is what Lavinya had burst out laughing in the first place.

The four turtle kids didn't notice Lavinya at first, but then they heard her laughter and gasps for air. They smiled excitedly at Lavinya's reaction to their new suits as she curled up on the floor, clutching her ribs.

"Oh, my sides. Ha heh."

"Hey, what's going on?"

At the sound of her room mates hysterical chuckles, Brittney wandered down the hall to find out what was so funny. The turtles' appearance made her laugh so quickly that she almost inhaled some of her saliva, and started to cough in between fits of laughter. Leaning against the wall, she didn't count on her legs to support her while she was locked in convolutions of glee.

It took both women a few minutes to calm down without starting anew with their giggles, which was kind of hard when Mikey started to walk around like a run way model. The turtles seemed to act upon the attention they were getting, and would try different antics that would send Lavinya and Brittney back to the ground.

"Lavinya, can you play with us now?" Leo asked her, pulling at one of her arms.

Lavinya tried to sit up, whipping away some tears. "Play? Sorry guys, but I have to finish this paper."

"Come on, please," all the turtles said in turn.

How could she say no to four innocent, pleading looks?

"Fine," she relented, standing up. "What am I wearing?"

The turtles scrambled back into the closet to pick out her outfit, pulling out articles Lavinya could have sworn she had already thrown out. What they gave her was a large brimmed hat with purple feathers sticking out of it, along with a matching purple feather bow to hang around her neck. Next, she pulled on a strapless leopard print dress that was tight over her T-shirt. Finally, she zipped up some knee-high boots with pointed toes, tucking in her jeans.

"Dang, we look good," Lavinya said, looking in her full body mirror. "This gives me an idea."

A few minutes later. . .

"You can do it. Feel the burn. Feel yourself becoming mighty," Richard Simmons encouraged as he smiled brightly at them from the TV.

Lavinya could follow his every step perfectly after having rehearsed it many times. However, the turtles clumsily mimicked the power dancing video, sometimes falling down or just making up their own dance to the disco music.

As they continued to get lost in the beat, a flash of bright light bounce off the TV, and Lavinya turned around with a scandalous look on her face to see Brittney holding up a camera from the hall way.

"I just couldn't help myself," Brittney said, with a smug smile.

"Hey," Lavinya shouted, moving as best she could in her boots to get to Brittney and the camera. However, the other young woman could easily run away since she wasn't laid down with ridiculous frivolities.

"Hey is for horses and they sometimes eat grass, now you better shut up before I kick your-OW!" Brittney teased, but stopped as Lavinya wrestled the smaller woman for the camera.

"This is MY camera!" Lavinya noticed, still trying to pull it away from her ex-friend. "It's not meant to be used against me. Give it to me."

"Fine," Brittney relented and let go. "But the moment was too priceless not to use it." She pushed Lavinya away so that she could get back up. Just as she was going to leave in a huffy manner, Mikey grabbed her hand.

"Aren't you going to play with us, too?"

Even the cynical woman was no match for the ultimate cuteness of the four turtle kids pleading for her to stay with them.

"Fine, I'll play. But I'm not dressing up," Brittney relented. But in the end, she caved in even to that. She borrowed one of Leo's leg warmers, Mikey's orange bandana that he had discarded earlier, and a poodle skirt which she amazingly pulled out of her own closet.

The six of them dance freestyle to the upbeat disco music while the human women passed the camera back and forth until the film was filled up.

"Am I interrupting anything?"

Both girls screamed when they turned around to see a lone figure behind them, who had silently came in through the window. The turtles, apparently used to these types of mannerisms in their father, weren't fazed by the rat's sudden entrance.

"Oh, Splinter. You scared us," Lavinya told him, hand over her heart.

"I'm sorry," Splinter apologized, an eyebrow lifted as he observed the garb of everyone present. "You look very. . .uh. . .lovely tonight," he added, an amused smile on his fuzzy face.

"Oh gosh," Lavinya groaned, shaking her head in embarrassment. "I'm not even going to try to explain." At that moment, she looked outside. "Is it dark already? Oh gosh, and I haven't even finished my paper. Come on boys, let's go put away your costumes and clean up."

"Awww," the all voiced, shuffling down the hall while trying to sing one of the songs they just learned.

"The joys of child rearing," Brittney said sarcastically, putting her hands on her hips as she watched them leave. "Well, good luck with that." And she went into her room as if her clothing was normal.

After a few minutes the boys came back in a flock, trying to all tell Splinter at once what they did that day.

"Boys. Boys. It's time to go. What do you say to Miss Lavinya?"

"Thanks Lavie," they chorused.

As Splinter was about to direct them back home, Leo grabbed Lavinya's hand. "Lavie, guess what's going to happen in two days?"

"What is?" she asked smiling down at the turtle.

"In two days, me and my brothers are going to be five years old," Leo told her, holding up that many fingers on both his hands.

"Your birthday?" Lavinya asked sounding more excited. "That's so cool. Are you going to have a party?"

"Huh?" Leo asked. "Why?"

"Well, a lot of people have a party on their birthday," Lavinya explained. "When I was a kid, I always had a party. But I guess it's a . . .human thing," she finished lamely, trying not to be insensitive.

"Splinter, can we have a party?" Mikey asked, his eyes lighting up.

"Yeah, can we?" Donny joined in.

In the end, they all were chiming in, politely requesting for the small celebration.

Splinter was just as confused as the turtles, only knowing about humans from what he had learned from his master Yoshi and from reading. But he only read books about art and Japan, and Yoshi only talked to his pet rat about his birthday, but never any parties. He knew about the tradition of giving gifts to the person whose birthday it was, but because of their limited funds, Splinter was barely able to get them a small toy each year.

He was about to politely refuse the turtles requests, but the innocent pleading in their curious eyes pulled at his heart strings. To that, he couldn't say no. But how could he say yes, since he had no idea what a birthday part was.

"If Miss Lavinya is willing to help me out," Splinter relented, seeing a small loop hole in which a few of his problems could be solved no matter what the young woman said.

Lavinya furrowed her eyes, and sighed when it was her turn to get the sad eyes from the turtles. "Well, I do work later that night, but during the day I'm free," she told them with a big smile.

The turtles cheered, excited about the prospect of trying something new. They were going to have a party, the first one they've ever had in their lives.

"Don't worry," Lavinya told Splinter. "I'll handle it. I was in charge of a few of my younger cousins' birthday parties. I know exactly what kids their age like to do for birthday parties."

Lavinya gave him a reassuring smile, but Splinter couldn't stop an uneasy feeling welling up in his stomach. He liked Lavinya a lot, and knew she loved the turtles as if they were part of her own family, but he believed that she was naive when it came to the turtles' appearance. She didn't seem to care that they were different, which was good, but still she should be aware of it. The rest of the world would not be as accepting as these two girls that have come into their lives.

"We must be going now," Splinter told the young woman, smiling congenially.

"Alright. See you guys in two days. I'll be down around. . .eleven in the morning. Is that okay with you?"

Splinter nodded, and turned to leave. The turtles followed with a wave, their little mouths chatter to each other about what they would do for their birthday party. They continued to talk as they journeyed down the fire escape into the alley below where Splinter lifted up a sewer lid to disappear into the shadows.

* * *

During the thirty-six hours after the promise of the party, Splinter could hardly get the turtles' attention for more than ten minutes. During cleaning, practicing and studying the turtles would whisper to each other thoughts about what small treasure Splinter will be giving them, what they would do at the party, and hopes that even Lavinya would get them a present as well. The day before their birthday, they could hardly sleep. They all snuck into Raphael's bed, and whispered under the covers until late into the night. Even though they didn't fall asleep until way past their bed time, when it was time to wake up they jumped to it faster than any other morning. Even Mikey was able to shake off the usual lingering sleep to get ready for the day.

Because it was their birthday, Splinter didn't require them to do their regular cleaning duties or study from the few books they had, which was an event to celebrate in itself. But he insisted they still practice the ninjitsu that they were steadily learning, telling his sons that they shouldn't take a rest even for one day from doing their stretches and basic techniques.

For the past couple of weeks, Splinter had been teaching them how to hide themselves like ninjas.

"The ninja is part of the shadows. They live in hiding, and must never be seen. This is their medium that keeps them apart from other martial arts," he explained, going into detail why a ninja shouldn't be seen. "We live in a dangerous world, and there will be times that the people on the surface will come close to finding us. We must be able to disappear at a moment's notice least we be discovered." The turtles, due to their structure with a shell on their back and stubby arms, legs and fingers, proved to be clumsy when it came to disappearing. But they were young, and could bounce back without any negative thoughts. They were determined to succeed in their training.

"Okay boys. On the count of three, I'll turn my back. I'll count to three and then turn around again. Okay? One, two three." At that, Splinter turned around, and started to count once again. He could hear his sons shuffling and trying to stay quiet as they tried to perform in the way their Sensei had taught them. "Three," Splinter said loudly, and turned around in an exaggerated way. "Oh, Donatello, you weren't fast enough. I saw your leg. And Raphael, I still see your bandana. As for you Leonardo, I can hear you breathing hard. You must learn to control that, for a ninja must be silent as well as invisible. Well, that was a good try, but I see that the only one who succeeded in disappearing was Michelangelo. Now where is your brother?"

Splinter turned a little to look around the room. He didn't notice as Michelangelo shuffled along with him so that he stayed exactly behind his father. Splinter continued to turn still searching, and the young turtle followed. This scene brought stifled laughter from the three other turtles, who tried not to give their brother away.

From the chuckles he heard, Splinter was able to figure out what was going on, and started to play along. "Oh, where is Michelangelo? He must have hidden very well, I can't find him anywhere. I hope we can find him, boys, or he might miss his birthday party."

With a large smile, Mikey jumped out from behind his father, his arms out and shouted, "Ta da."

Splinter picked him up and swung him around. "There's my clever ninja," he said as Mikey hugged him back. The other turtles ran to their father, and soon they all were on the ground wrestling and laughing.

"Awwww! That's so cute," a female voice cooed. "I wish I had my camera."

"Lavie!"

A bombardment of green nearly knocked the woman over, and she couldn't help but laugh as two turtles latched onto each of her legs.

"Happy Birthday boys!" she told them, setting her bags down to give them a hug.

However that was a mistake. Once they heard the paper bags rattle, they all rushed to them and dug through them looking at their contents. They all pulled out square packages wrapped in bright colorful paper, and started to shake them.

"Okay, my sons. That's enough. Put those down," Splinter told them in a gentle voice, leaning against his walking stick. "Kids," he told Lavinya with a shrug.

"Can we open them now?" Mikey asked, tugging at Lavinya's shirt.

"Well, I was thinking you could open them after I've shown you where we're going for your party," Lavinya told him with a secretive smile.

All the turtles started to ask questions about the party at the same time, all their voices mixing into an inaudible ramble.

"You'll all find out when we get there. Now go get dressed. And make sure you wear your hat this time, Leo," Lavinya called out and she shooed them away. She tried to smile pleasantly, and ignored the look that Splinter was giving her. She knew he wouldn't be pleased about taking the boys up to the surface, especially during daylight hours, but she wasn't going to change her plans.

"So, where are we going?" Splinter asked like a responsible parent does.

Lavinya put her finger to her lips. "It's a secret," she said, and ran to help the turtles so she couldn't feel the rat's glare.

* * *

"Here we are."

The four turtles tilted up their heads so that they could see the large sculpture of the happy kangaroo dressed up in a vest and a beanie, waving as if welcoming them in. With their little knowledge of the alphabet, they couldn't make out what the sign by the kangaroo. However, Splinter did read it out loud for their benefit.

"Peppy's Pepperoni House?" he read, making it into a question for the young woman who brought them there. He lowered the hood of his cloak as a couple walked by, very self-conscious about being out in the sun.

"You guys'll love this place. I used to come here all the time when I was a kid. They have games, rides, a ball pit and great pizza. And since it's your birthday, they'll give you free stuff," Lavinya said with a tone that told that she knew this by experience. "Come on guys," she called, grabbing Mikey and Raphie by the hand and leading the turtles in with their mouths hanging open. Donnie followed, then Splinter with Leo leading him eagerly.

When they walked in, a rush of cool air pleasantly hit them. All the turtles had stopped suddenly as their visual and audio receivers were bombarded with bright lights, colors and an assortment of music and sound.

"Wednesdays are usually their slowest days, especially since school is still in, so we should be okay," Lavinya told Splinter.

Donatello started to move forward, wanting to know what everything was. He wanted to explore this new world and learn everything he could about it. But he didn't get too far before something grabbed his shell.

"Wait a minute, sweetie," Lavinya told them, and directed the group to a booth. "You guys should eat something before you run wild and crazy."

She pushed them all in gently while she and Splinter sat at the ends. Then they all started chatting excitedly, not waiting for Lavinya to answer any questions or explain anything. But that all stopped when the waitress came up to their table.

"Hi, what can I get ya?" she asked cheerfully positioning her pencil above her notepad, and then gasped when she saw who was in the booth.

Everyone in the booth also displayed some sort of surprise, except for Lavinya who just smiled as pleasantly as she could without cracking up.

Standing before them, minus the dark clothing, the dark make-up and the many piercings she usually wore, stood Brittney, Lavinya's roommate, standing in a brightly colored blouse, skirt that went down to her knees, and a hat with a kangaroo on it. "Wh-wh-what are you doing here?" she asked, looking almost like a cornered animal.

"It's the turtle's birthday," Lavinya told her, patting Donnie head. "I wanted them to have a fun birthday, so I brought them here. And if we so happened to run into you, all the better."

Brittney glared at her roommate, and then turned away from her. "So, what kind of pizza do you want?"

"Cheese!"

"Pepperoni and olives."

"Sausage."

"Pineapple and Canadian bacon."

Lavinya chuckled at their boldness. "Let's get two medium pizzas, with each of those toppings on half a pizza."

Brittney also took their drink orders and hurried away, a dark cloud forming over her head as she muttered to herself.

"Okay, while we're waiting for the food, how about you open your presents," Lavinya told them all, pulling out the gifts and passing them around.

In a flurry of flying paper, the turtles attacked the presents with the enthusiasm of a tornado. Soon they all made it through the paper and the tabs that held each box close to find their treasure, each box containing a fist size foam ball, a coloring book with a small container of crayons, a picture book and a bag of assorted candies. Each one was wowing over a different part of their gift. Leo had his crayon box opened and was look at each color, Donnie was flipping through his picture book, picking out the words he knew, Raphie was testing the strength of his ball and bouncing it against the table, and Mikey had his bag of candy open, ready to eat it until Splinter took it away.

"Wait until we finish lunch," he reprimanded his youngest. "Now, what do you say to Miss Lavinya?"

"Thank you, Lavie," they all chorused.

At that time, their pizzas had come. But that didn't stop some of the chatter as they took turns telling Lavie about what they had been doing, and learning from Splinter, and funny stories that had happened since she had last seen them. She was particularly interested when they told about their ninja lessons. She hadn't known anything about Splinter's knowledge of ninjutsu, or of his training for the turtles.

"Wow, you guys are learning that?" she asked in surprise.

"Yeah, today we're learning how to be invincible," Mikey said.

"It's invisible, stupid," Leo told him, and lowered his head when Splinter gave him a disapproving look.

"Invisible, how do you do that?" Lavinya asked them with a smile.

"Like this," Raphie said, and ducked under the table.

"Oh no. Where did Raphie go?" Lavinya asked in exaggerated surprise. Then she ducked her head under the table to see him. "There you. . .Hey, where did he go?" She heard laughter, and sat back up. She still didn't see where he went. "Where'd Raphael go?" she asked in confusion.

A pair of green hands came from behind and covered her eyes. "Guess who?" she heard Raphie's voice tease.

Lavinya grabbed his hands and pulled him over her head from his hiding spot in the next booth behind her. "Why you little ninja," she told him, tickling him so he squirmed and squealed in her arms, until he screamed for her to stop.

"Hey, can't you guys keep it down?" Brittney hissed as she passed by with another pizza. "I thought you guys would want to keep a low profile."

Lavinya just shrugged the warning off, but Splinter nodded in gratitude. It was only then that he realized that they weren't the only people in the restaurant. In another booth on the other side of the eating area was an older couple who looked like they were taking out their two young grandchildren out. A little girl the same age as the turtles, and a boy a little bit younger had just starting to eat their food. Unconsciously Splinter tugged his robe lower over his face.

"Splinter, can we go play now?" Mikey asked, looking up into his father's face anxiously.

"Wait a second, guys," Lavinya told them, her face sparkling. "There's one more surprise." With that she pointed to where Brittany was approaching, her tray held high above her head.

"Happy Birthday, boys," Brittany told them, lowering the tray to show four pieces of cake. "Compliments of Peppy the Kangaroo."

"Now sing the song," Lavinya told her, bouncing in her seat like she was the same age of the turtles.

The other young woman looked as if she were going to strangle her roommate. "Please don't make me," Brittany growled between clenched teeth.

Lavinya crossed her arms and smiled. "Do it, or I'll tell Rocksteady and Bebop where you work."

Brittany sighed in defeat and then started singing a song while dancing, a goofy smile on her face. As she sang, she danced in a very rehearsed and stiff way.

"I heard today was your birthday

And all of us and Peppy too

Want to wish a

Hop-hop-hoppy-birthday

To you."

Everyone clapped after she had finished, some laughing joyously, others had their mouths opened, except for Donatello, who latched onto Lavinya's arm and proclaimed in a worried tone, "Brittany's scaring me."

Everyone started to laugh at Donatello's reaction, but Brittany, who leaned over and rubbed his head which seemed to be almost out of character for her. "Just eat your cake, birthday boy," she said in her regular voice, and gave him a half-smile. "I'm just doing my job."

Donatello looked up at her, and nodded. "This is a different Brittany," he told her. "I'll see the real one at your home." He smiled brightly up at her.

"You're right, kid," Brittany told him. "I'll see you then." She turned around to leave them, and then she turned around a dark look on her face. "And I'll see you at home, Lav."

Lavinya shirked away from the other woman's attitude, a foreboding feeling creeping through her. "Oh, boy. Am I in trouble. Oh well, it was worth it." And Lavinya stopped worrying, as she watched the four turtles eat their cake.

"I'm done. Can we go play NOW?" Raphael asked, pushing away the empty plate.

"Sure. Let me buy some tokens so you can play games and go on some rides," Lavinya told them, moving Donatello out of the booth with her.

Three of them followed her to the machine that exchanged money for tokens. Leonardo was still in the booth, his cake only half finished. When everyone started to leave, he cried out to wait for him and started to eat the cake as fast as he could so he could catch up.

For the next couple of minutes, Lavinya bought some tokens and distributed them among the four boys, while explaining what they were for. She showed them the rides they could go on, and the games they could play. She also explained to them that tickets would come out of the games, and that they could exchange them for prizes up at the front.

"Okay, have fun," she said, clapping her hands together once. "And just come to me if your having any trouble."

While Raphie, Donnie and Mikey quickly ran off on their own, Leo grabbed Lavinya's hand and asked her, "Will you play a game with me?"

Lavinya smiled appreciatively at him, and said, "Sure. What do you want to play?"

The four turtles, full of sugar and pizza, ran from one game to another, excitement written all over their faces. Many minutes ran by when Mikey and Raphie both found that they were out of tokens. While Donnie and Leo had looked at all the machines to decide what they want to do, Mikey and Raphie used a token whenever they found something fun. Hoping for a little sympathy, Mikey asked Lavinya if he could have some more tokens. Lavinya seemed a little annoyed, but tried to hide it when she said that she was out of change and that they were going to leave soon anyway.

Dragging his feet, Mikey pulled out the tickets he had won from his pocket, and started to count them. As he did, he spotted the two other kids that came in around the same time they did climbing into a plastic tunnel. The tunnel led to a small maze of other tunnels or to some slides. One tunnel led to a netted off play area filled with fist sized plastic balls. To Mikey's joy, the kids didn't seem to need to use any tokens to get in.

"Come on, Raphie. Let's go play in there," Mikey said, proud of his discovery. The two climbed through the tunnel, ignoring the sign that said "Take your shoes off," which they couldn't read in the first place.

Since their turtle feet didn't fit their shoes and with their shells, the two brothers were clumsy at first when they first went through the tunnels. But after a while, they became used to them. After they had been through all the tunnels, Raphael ventured into the ball pit. He slowly started to lower himself into the river of spheres, when Mikey came from behind and pushed him. Raphie screamed, trying to find something to hang onto, and then found himself floating face down and unharmed.

Mikey laughed at the look Raphael had on his face, as he tried to gain some kind of balance in this new environment. However, he never made it to his feet as his little brother jumped in after him, half onto Raphael to drive him deeper into the balls. After that the two started to wrestle playfully, not having to worry about anything hard or dangerous to run into. However, they did stop when they ran into something alive.

"Hey, watch where ya goin'!" a young voice shouted at them. "You coulda hit my lil brother."

It was the boy and girl that were in the restaurant with the older couple. The little boy looked like he was about to cry, and the young girl had her arm around him and was glaring at the two turtles.

"Sorry," the two apologized automatically. It suddenly became quiet in the play area, since the two brothers had never been around human children before and found themselves staring awkwardly at the girl and boy.

The little boy, who still looked like he was going to cry, picked up a ball and threw it Mikey.

"Hey," Mikey cried out in surprised as it hit him in the face, and then laugh. He picked up a ball as well, and softly threw it at the boy and missed.

The boy laughed too, and started to throw armfuls of balls recklessly around the netted area, raining everyone in the plastic spheres. That soon started a ball fight, one pair of siblings against the other.

Outside of the play area, unknown to the children, stood a figure in a large cloak. He smiled at his two sons, seeing the innocent interaction with the human children. He had often wondered if there was any possibility that his sons could live on the surface without being persecuted and feared. Could this be the first step to that obscured dream? But before he could dwell on it more, Donatello grabbed his clawed hand, and pulled him away to show him something.

Soon after that, Mikey was being chased by the girl as she tried to push him down since he had done the same. The chase was awkward, since they were up to their waists in the balls. With one leap with the last of her energy, she jumped at Mikey grabbing at his shirt. She overcompensated her target and grabbed at his hat instead. And with the hat came the bandanna and the rest of the turtle.

The girl laughed as she saw Mikey waved his arms around as he fell into the balls. She started to return his hat to him, when she noticed something about the strange boy she was playing with. He was completely bald. And not only that, but his head was green.

"Mikey!" Raphael called, his voice strained and his eyes wide.

Mikey looked up, and realized that his face was bare. He turned around, and saw the girl who held his bandanna. Panic welled up inside him, and he waited to see what the girl would do.

There was a scream, but it didn't come from the girl. Behind her, stood the girl's grandmother, coming to collect the siblings from the ball pit. But after seeing Mikey's face, and being so close to her grandchild, the old woman had shrieked in surprise, pulling her hands up to her face. The scream alerted the old man, and he started forward to the ball pit.

"Mikey, get down," Raphie shouted at his brother, pushing him into the balls.

"What's going on dear? What's wrong?" the old man said, taking his wife by the elbow.

As the old woman tried to explain what she saw to her husband, both Splinter and Lavinya were alerted by the scream and ran to the ball pit. They both saw Raphael, but there was no sign of Michelangelo anywhere. It was Splinter who noticed the orange bandana in the girl's hand.

"Michelangelo!" he called out, his heart beating faster at the situation. "Where is Michelangelo?"

Raph, after whispering to Mikey to sit still, moved out of the balls to his father. "He's in there. He lost his mask," the turtleling said, looking worried.

Then they all heard some sobbing and sniffing of a child trying to stop themselves from crying.

Lavinya took action there. Clumsily she ducked into the pit, and waded around until she found the hidden turtle. Making sure her back was turned to the old couple, she lifted Mikey up into her arms, and carried him out to Splinter. "Take them all out. I'll take care of things here and meet you by the corner," she told the rat, seeing the worry in his face.

Splinter nodded. It was just the thing he wanted to do. If they didn't get out, the old man might insist upon checking all of the turtles and then they would be exposed. Grabbing Leonardo's hand and calling to his other two, he ordered them all outside.

"But I still have a token," Donatello complained, but followed after the rat obediently as he could see the urgent look on his face.

Lavinya watched them leave with one eye, while keeping another on the old couple. While the older woman was trying to make sense of what she saw and wether she was going crazy, the man was looking at the retreating parent and kids with a worried look since his wife had driven them off. He walked over to Lavinya, with a confused look on his tired face, and apologized for the scene. He explained his wife was on a new medication, and she must be going through some side effects.

Lavinya sighed with relief that nobody was going to make a bigger deal over it, and walked over to the cash register to pay for the dinner while explaining what happened to Brittany. She was just about to leave to meet the mutant family, when she felt a tug on her arm.

"Um, lady, your kid left this," the girl's voice said, holding up the orange bandana of Mikey's. "He left it behind when we were playing in the ball pit."

Lavinya took it and smiled. "Thank you," she said, not wanting to correct the error of not being a parent. She just didn't have the energy to say anything else. Then a thought came into her mind, and she asked the little girl, "Did you. . .um. . .see anything odd?" Lavinya asked timidly, not wanting to sound stupid or give anything away.

The girl, after glancing at her grandmother, lowered her head. "Yes," she said softly. "Is that kid going to be okay?"

Lavinya smiled more gently, and nodded. "He's just a little scared, but once we get him home he'll calm down."

"No, I mean will he get better?" the girl asked, her face filled with concern. "He was green, so he's sick, right?"

Lavinya stood up straight, thinking over what to say. "Um, well, he's not exactly sick. That's how he was born."

The girl looked even more confused, trying to figure out what it would be like to be green all her life. "But why?"

"Eh. . ." Lavinya tried to reply, but her thoughts became stuck on how to explain things to a younger audience. Plus, it wasn't even her place to explain things like this to a strange kid. But she continued on. "Well, there are some people who are just born different. It's just the way things are. But they're still just like you or me."

"Then why do you try to hide him?" the girl asked, looking somewhat angry at that.

"Well, some people don't understand that even though they're different on the outside, they're the same on the inside. They can only see the outside. Do you understand?"

The girl looked as if she was in deep thought, and then she looked at her grandmother who was still acting hysterical, and then back at this strange lady. "I think I do. He just wanted to play like me."

Lavinya nodded, and then turned around and left, not knowing what else she should do. From there, Lavinya met the turtles and Splinter near the street corner, where they were in the shadow of the buildings so that they wouldn't be noticed by most of the people. She brought with her all the turtle's presents that they left behind.

The turtles walked together in front, talking wildly about what had happened, running and shouting like all children do. However, behind them Lavinya and Splinter walked side by side in silence, the former in apologetic stillness and the later a more solemn gravity. It wasn't until they arrived at the alley behind Lavinya's apartment that the rat broke the silence between the adults.

"I have decided," the rat began, "that it's not a good idea for the turtles to come to the surface for a while."

This announcement was met with surprise from all the listeners. The turtles, just beginning to lift up the sewer lid, gasped and started to protest. Their arguments were answered with a stern look from their father which silenced them. Lavinya, still silent, let her shoulders sag and her face held a sad composition from the news. But still, she nodded her head in understanding, and rubbed one of her arms unconsciously. She knew since she left the restaurant that things didn't end well. And she knew that it was all her fault.

It hadn't been long since she'd met the turtles, but she had grown to love them so much she wanted to share her world with the excited reptile children. It even benefitted her own life, remembering the joy she would experience whenever she anticipated a visit from the estranged family. There was very little she held joy for in this world then the four turtlelings that now grouped around her for a hug. And now, as she suspected once she left the restaurant, that she was being "fired" from her role as babysitter.

Splinter, gesturing for his wards to enter the sewer opening, looked back at the woman who suddenly looked lonely. She smiled gently at her, and then spoke. "We all will be expected you to visit sometime soon though," he told her gently. "We need some way to repay you for this. . .uh. . .unforgettable day."

With that, the young woman perked up, and smiled joyfully. "You bet," she told him, and watched as he descended down the sewer ladder, waving an enthusiastic wave as they walked away. As she replaced the sewer lid, she couldn't help but whistle as she walked through the alley, an extra beat in her step.


	4. Chapter 4: Daycare

_Living in a dank and dark sewers isn't exactly a parent's ideal place to raise four children, but Splinter didn't have much choice. My brothers and I often resented our father for not letting us up above the yards of pipes and concrete that was our shelter to the surface, especially after meeting Lavie. It was an adventure every time we made the small trip to our babysitter's apartment. Every day with her was a new experience and millions of things to learn about. She introduced us to so much knowledge about the human world that we wouldn't have known stuck in our lair. Perhaps I was the hardest on our father when he decided we couldn't go to Lavie's any more after our Birthday fiasco. I held a grudge since the world was now being denied us once again. My curiosity was denied being fulfilled, and I felt like my future was being smothered. Our escapades had come to an end because of Splinter's decision. Little did we know that Lavie wasn't our only outlet to adventures_, _but our father as well._

Heroes in the Past, Children of Honor

Chapter 4: Daycare

By Emilou

(About two months after the turtle's birthday)

"Lavie, can you read to us?" Donny asked, pulling on her sleeve.

"And then play hide and seek?" Mikey requested with big deer eyes.

"Oooooo, I'd love to guys, but I have to work this afternoon. And you know me, I take a long time getting ready," Lavinya told them. She had just finished cleaning up after a dinner that she had made for the turtles and Splinter, and was preparing to leave.

"Please, just one book," Donny pleaded. Leo and Mikey also gave her the same look. Even though Raph wasn't too fond of story time, his eyes said that he didn't care what they did, but could Lavie stay a little longer?

"You should surrender now; it'll be easier on you," Splinter said with a smile.

"Oh, alright," Lavinya gave in. "Geez, you should all become negotiators."

Donatello grabbed her arm, and pulled her into the living room with all his might. As soon as he made sure she was sitting down, he ran off.

"So, what are we reading today?" Lavinya asked, as Leo sat at her side, and Mikey crawled into her lap. Raph, one who rarely liked to show any affection, sat by Leo, leaning against the couch armrest.

"This book," Donny told her, coming back with a picture book and his stuffed bear under his arm. "It has a turtle in it."

"A turtle. Then it must be good," she told them all. She accepted the book when it was handed to her and read the cover. "The Tortoise and the Hare. I know this story," she told them.

"What's a tortoise?" Leo asked.

"It's like a turtle," Lavinya answered.

"But turtles don't have hair," Mikey told her.

"No, a hare doesn't mean like the hair on my head. It's spelled differently. A hare is a rabbit. Do you know what rabbits are?"

The turtles all began to tell what they knew about rabbits.

"Good. Now, let's start the story." Lavinya opened the book to the first page.

As most children know, this story is about a rabbit that challenges a tortoise to a race. During most of the race, the rabbit is ahead. But because of his arrogance, the rabbit decides to take a nap, confident that he would win anyway. As the rabbit slept, the tortoise passed him in the race and eventually wins.

As Lavinya reads the tale, the turtles were quiet and paid very close attention to it. At the end of the story, the turtles cheered at the tortoise's victory over the hare. Lavinya closed the book.

"That was a great story. Where did you get this book?"

"At the dump," Donny said proudly. He was the one that went with Splinter that night, and found a large stack of books there. "We find a lot of stuff there. Mikey even found a TV, but it doesn't work."

"It doesn't show people and movies," Mikey tried to explain. "It only shows black and white fuzz."

"It sounds like the TV is working, it's just not picking anything up," Lavinya thought out loud. "Perhaps you need an antenna or a cable. Do you have a cable hook up down here?"

As Lavinya looked around the walls of the lair, three of the turtles followed her asking questions about the TV. Only Raphael stayed where he was, quiet. After a while, he went to Lavinya.

"Why did the hare think he could sleep during the race and still win?" he asked the human woman.

"Huh?"

"In the book, the hare thinks he could beat the tortoise. Why? He couldn't beat me," Raphael said, pushing his chest out.

"Uh, because tortoises move very slowly while hares are very fast. That's why the rabbit believes he could take a nap and still win."

"Tortoises are slow?"

"But we're not slow," Leo interjected. He knew this for a fact because he could keep up with Splinter most of the time. And Splinter was very fast.

"But you're not ordinary turtles," Lavinya told them all. She looked at all four of the turtles, and wondered if that's something she should have told them. Did they know what normal turtles looked like? Were they at some point normal turtles? "Uh, I really have to go guys," she told them, feeling like she didn't want to be there to answer any more questions, especially if she didn't know the answer. "I won't be able to come down for a few days. Bye guys." And she swiftly left the lair.

Lavinya's exit left a bitter taste in the mouths of the turtles, but not because of the absence of their friends. This new development about "normal" turtles being slow was a strange and puzzling thought. One that they couldn't get rid of.

"Splinter, are turtles really slow?"

"Are we slow?"

"Why aren't we normal?"

"Are rabbits stupid?"

"Do normal turtles live in the sewers?"

"Why are turtles slow?"

"Why don't we look like the turtle pictures?"

The bombardment of questions left the mutant rat speechless for a while. Then he held up his paws for quiet.

"What did that babysitter of yours tell you this time?"

Donatello held up the picture book to Splinter.

Once Splinter had taken the book and looked through it, he understood his sons' inquiries. But he still didn't know how to respond to them. They were only five years old and wouldn't understand what happened to them when they were regular pet turtles and came into contact with the strange green goo that had transformed them. So, like a parent whose child had asked a difficult question, he gave them a simplified half-truth of the situation.

He guided them to the couch where they could all sit and listen. "Well, my sons. It is true that most turtles are slow. They move slowly because that is the way they are made. But, you my sons, are different. You aren't like the other turtles."

"We're not normal," Raphael pipped up, not at all offended.

"Well, I wouldn't say that. It's like your special," Splinter objected softly.

Donatello, always the thinker, inquired, "But why are we different?"

Not ready to tell them the whole story of their origin at such a tender age, Splinter gave them something to think about. "Do you remember all the rats that we see in the sewers?"

The turtles nodded their heads.

"Well, do I look like those rats?"

The turtles thought, and shook their heads. "No."

"The rats don't talk like you do," Michelangelo protested.

"Do other turtles talk?" Leonardo asked.

Splinter sighed. Why were kids so smart? "You are who you are, my sons. Not every creature is the same. Even among you four, you all are different," Splinter pointed out. "You should be proud of who you are."

The turtles looked from one brother to the other, remembering what was different about each of them. They were all unique in their own way. That seemed to make them feel better.

"Now, why don't you four go play while I meditate," Splinter said, and pushed them to the sewer exit gently.

The four turtles answered "'kay," and ran out laughing, their worries and cares forgotten.

************

Splinter moved from one bed to the other, checking to make sure each turtle was asleep and tucked in securely. Their soft breathing filled the room, making him feel drowsy as well. He yawned as he patted Raphael on the head, and turned to exit the room.

After he checked the rest of the lair, he retired to his own room. As he entered, he became startled when he saw a large figure standing with his back turned to Splinter. Right away, Splinter was on his guard, his walking stick poised to defend.

The figure definitely had a human form; however he was much larger than any other human Splinter had ever seen. Sensing the rat's presence, the figure turned around. He was wearing clothes similar to the Samurai from ancient Japan with Samurai swords belted to his waste. There was a scepter in his hand, and strangely enough, an Oni mask covering his face.

But as strange as the person appeared, Splinter relaxed. This was a person he recognized from his days as a pet rat. He remembered attending a fighting championship with his master long ago, and this figure was the one who held the match. His name was simply the Daimyo.

"Do you know the whereabouts of Hamato Yoshi?" The Daimyo inquired, his powerful voice vibrating within the small rooms. "I traced his presence to this place."

Splinter nodded. His master last remaining belongings the rat had kept faithfully. He had placed the memorandums on shelves in his room as a shrine to his fallen master. "I regret to tell you that my master, Hamato Yoshi, has passed away."

The Daimyo sighed, his Oni mask hiding any facial emotion, but his body showed the sorrow. "I'm sorry for your loss. I did not know. Earth has lost a good ninja, and a good man."

Splinter nodded, accepting the Daimyo's words for his master. But despite all of this, he felt uneasy that the Daimyo was able to enter his lair so easily, even if he was powerful. In his life of isolation, he was not used to strangers in his house.

"Is there something I can do for you?" Splinter asked.

The Daimyo eyed the room with care, looking at the weapons, books and wall scrolls. "You have studied the art of Ninjutsu?" he asked carefully.

"Yes, I learned from my master while he was alive," Splinter answered with a respectful bow.

The Daimyo grunted. "It has been many years since I saw Hamato Yoshi fight. Our world once again holds the Battle Nexis as is tradition. I had come to see if Hamato Yoshi, who was our last champion, would join this year's competition. However, I see that it is impossible." The Daimyo glanced over the room again. "Perhaps you, as his student, would like to enter."

Splinter looked up with shock. "You want me to compete?" he whispered. He felt a lump of worry burry into his heart. It had always been a quiet shame of his to know that he had never been an official student of his master. He had imitated Hamato Yoshi as a pet rat, and listened and memorized every word he spoke of about Ninjutsu. Splinter had read every book he could get his claws on about martial art, and practiced and meditated with as much dedication as a real student. However, his skills had never been tested. He had never really fought with anyone. He never had a sparring partner except for his novice sons. He was inexperienced.

"Of course. Being Hamato Yoshi's student is enough of a recommendation," the Daimyo told him.

While the prospect of being around other fighters, testing his talent, excited him, he felt a dark feeling of hesitation, wondering if he would dishonor his master by entering and failing. While he taught his sons not to be afraid of failure and to learn from their mistakes, he himself harbored the same feelings. And then there was the issue of what to do with his sons. He couldn't leave them here by themselves. And Lavinya told him she would be busy for the next few days.

"I'm afraid I must decline," Splinter told the Daimyo respectfully. "My sons are much too young to be left here alone. And this world isn't too kind to us because of what we are."

The Daimyo nodded. "As I recall, the humans here are very intolerant, even with their own. I understand. So, I would like to extend the invitation to both you and your sons."

"But my sons . . ."

"Will be taken very well care of. For those who enter the competition who are in your same situation, we have set up a daycare."

"Day. . .care?" Splinter asked, this word new to him.

"Yes. In fact, my son will be helping out with the daycare. He is young, but I believe he is responsible enough. He is a very patient youth, and is very good with kids. Your sons will be in good hands."

"This is all very sudden," Splinter said rubbing his head. He was confused about what he should do. Would it be all that bad to take the turtles with him? Was it all that selfish to want to see if he was worthy to take on his master's name as he called himself Hamato Splinter? Splinter bowed to the large man. "I accept your generosity, Daimyo," he said respectfully, his rat lips smiling.

"Very well. Let us begin the journey," the Daimyo said, lifting his scepter.

"Now? But my sons are asleep," Splinter informed the man.

"Perhaps it would be best for them to be asleep as we travel through dimensions," the Daimyo suggested.

***********

Leonardo yawned and stretched as he felt himself start to come out of the dream he was having. The more he felt awake, the less vivid his dream was. By the time he opened his eyes, he could only remember that in his dream he had gone to a far away land filled with rabbits that ran around at such an incredible speed, and no matter how much he willed himself he could only run at a sluggish speed.

As the dream trickled further away from his mind, he started to notice the differences around him. The bed was different; a futon laid out on the floor. His blanket was soft and new, unlike the old ones at home. The air wasn't cold and damp, but fresh without the scent of the sewers. There were no sounds of dripping water or even the faint rumbling of the subway that could be echoed from the miles of sewer tunnels. Finally he noticed that along with the futon he was sleeping in, there were four more in the room, one with each of his brothers in it and one that was empty. There was no sign of Splinter.

Many times, his father had told him that he was a big boy, saying that he was brave and strong. But waking up in a strange room without any memory of getting there and with no sign of Splinter, the five-year-old turtle couldn't help but start crying.

"Splinter?" he called out quietly, not realizing his soft voice wouldn't even carry to the outside of the room. When he wasn't answered, he cried harder, sobbing softly to the silence.

The noises coming from the eldest woke up the lightest sleeper, Donatello, who sat up immediately and rubbed his eyes. Instead of noticing the strange room, he looked to Leonardo.

"Leo, what's the matter?" he asked concerned. Then he noticed the room. "Whoa! Where are we?"

Donatello's shouted woke up the remaining brothers.

"Spli-Spli-Splinter, he-he-he's gone," Leo sobbed out, trying to stop crying so he could be brave.

"Splinter's gone?" Michelangelo asked, and his eyes started filling with tears as well. "Where did he go?"

"I-I-I do-oo-on't know," Leo told them wiping away tears so that more could replace them. "When I-I-I woke up, I-I c-couldn't find him. And-and-and-and I don't know wh-wh-where we are."

Both Raph and Mikey looked around, and noticed that too. That scared the two of them, which made Raphael start to cry and Michelangelo cry even harder.

Donatello, feeling nervous at seeing his three brothers crying, gathered them up in his small arms and hugged them. Imitating Lavinya, he patted their heads. But his comfort did little good to them or to himself. Their fear spread to him, and he started bawling along with his brothers.

It was the sound of the Japanese style sliding door which made them quiet for a few minutes.

"My sons!" Splinter cried out with fear as he saw their tear filled eyes. He quickly set down the tray of food he was carrying and ran into the room. "What is the matter? Are you all alright?"

"Splinter!" the four turtles shouted and leapt into his lap, hugging onto whatever part of his body they could.

"I-I-I was so scared."

"You weren't he-he-here."

"I-I-I woke up, and-and home was gone."

"Whaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Splinter was relieved that nothing was wrong with his sons, and reassured them that they were all going to be okay and he wasn't going to leave them. Soon he had them all calmed down and eating a Japanese style breakfast. For once, the turtles weren't complaining about not having sugary cereal, which was probably due to the shock of waking up in a strange room.

"Splinter, where are we?" Donatello's curiosity not willing to be unsatisfied.

Splinter sighed. "It is. . .hard to explain, my sons. Do you remember when I would talk about Hamato Yoshi?"

"Yeah, he was your master. You learned martial arts from him, right?" Leo answered.

"Yes, that is right, Leonardo. Well, Yoshi had many friends, and last night one of those friends was trying to find him."

"But Yoshi is gone, isn't he?" Raphael asked respectfully, his eyes wide.

"Yes, he is. And that is what I told Yoshi's friend. Then. . .Yoshi's friend invited us to come to his house and stay with him for a while," Splinter finished a little shakily. He didn't like deceiving the turtlelings, but the complete truth might be too much for them. Not to mention, they might ask to watch Splinter fight, and that would certainly be too much for them.

The turtles' eyes were all aglow at this new development, and they looked around the room again with a new perspective.

"Who is he? Is he a ninja?"

"Can we go explore?"

More and more questions bombarded Splinter until he raised a paw for silence.

"His name is Daimyo, and this is his house. We must be respectful toward him and his property. Is that clear, my sons?"

"Yes, Sensei," the turtles answered, using the more formal title for their father. There was more than one frown on the green faces.

"Unfortunately, I will be gone for most of the day. The Daimyo's son has volunteered to run a 'day care' where you will be staying," Splinter explained.

"Day care?" Mikey repeated. It didn't sound good.

Splinter realized that he was losing his sons' interest in the day's plan. "Uh. . .I heard that there will be other children your age there as well."

"Other kids," Leo said, suddenly not looking so sad.

This new thought didn't sound so bad, and the turtles were quiet thinking about the possibilities.

"Yes. This could be a chance for you to make some friends," Splinter told them, smiling down at them a sparkle in his eye.

Excitement spread quickly from one brother to another until they were quite ready to meet these new kids.

"Okay. We should go now. The Daimyo wanted me. . .to talk to me soon. Let's be off, my sons," the rat told them, grabbing his walking stick. Before they left though, he had his sons straighten the blankets and futons, telling them that they should be good guests should be neat and tidy. Then, with the turtles in a line behind him, he started off through the Daimyo's palace.

The turtles were speechless as they walked past one garden after another, the sights of the large palace and the different people they met kept them gapped mouthed.

It was Mikey who noticed first. "Hey, Splinter. We don't have to cover ourselves in front of these people."

"That's right, Michelangelo. Here we can walk freely and not have to worry," Splinter agreed.

"Why?"

Again, Splinter didn't think that explaining how they had traveled to a different dimension, while it was the truth, would be the best thing to say. "Um. . .oh, here we are. This is where you will play with the other children," Splinter said as he dodged the difficult question. Lucky for him, the five-year-olds didn't seem to notice.

"Ah, Splinter-san. Welcome," a young redheaded boy said as he bowed. "My father said that you would be bringing your sons here."

Splinter bowed back, and then eyed his sons until they bowed as well. "Thank you for taking care of them. My sons, this is the Daimyo's son. You listen to everything he says, is that clear?"

"Yes, Sensei," they replied.

Splinter looked over the room that was strewn with toys and children of all sorts of shapes, colors and race. "Uh. . .there are much more children than I thought there would be. Will you be okay taking care of so many of them?" Splinter asked concerned.

The Daimyo's son smiled. "That is kind of you to think of me, but I do have some help." He gestured to the side where a large figure was reading a book to a half-circle of children. "That is Traximus. He's one of the Triceraton's that didn't make it past the preliminaries. He has graciously agreed to help me out instead of watching his comrades fight in the tournament."

Splinter's eyes widened as he took in the muscular Traximus who was trying to balance on a small wooden chair while reading the book with a grim look on his face. "It's a shame that he didn't qualify."

"Well, he's still young, about my age. Perhaps next year," the Daimyo's son said. "You better hurry, Splinter-san, or you'll be late for the match."

Splinter hesitated as gathered his four children in a hug. Finally, Splinter said good-bye to them, and left. The turtles waved at him until he disappeared from their sight.

From there the Daimyo's son immediately pushed the turtles into the room roughly. "Oh boy. Four more," he muttered to himself. "Come on, kids. Let's go listen to a story."

Mikey, Leo and Raph, seeing the giant-size Triceraton, seemed hesitant to go toward Traximus. However Donny, spotting Traximus right away, ran up to him boldly, pointed and shouted, "Dinosaur!" happily in the Triceraton's face.

The large figure was startled by this, not knowing what the little turtle meant, nor did he expect such a loud voice to come from something so small. The only thing he could muster after that was, "Excuse me, little one?"

"Dinosaur. You're a dinosaur," Donatello repeated excitedly. "A triceratops. I've seen you in picture books."

Traximus, not knowing exactly what the little turtle meant or of Earth's prehistoric history, smiled down at the turtle. Unfortunately, due to his race's rough features and large build, his smile looked very menacing. "Actually, I am a Triceraton. My name is Traximus."

The three other turtles looked even more frightened by Traximus' smile, but Donny didn't seemed bothered.

"Hi, my name is Donny," he said happily.

"It's nice to meet you, Donny. Why don't you and your brothers sit down, and I will start another story," Traximus said congenially.

Donatello immediately sat down, but it took a few words of persuasion for the other turtles to do the same.

"Now, boys and girls. Listen closely," Traximus began in a story teller's voice. "This is a true story of me and my friend that didn't happen all too long ago. We had decided to borrow his father's space ship and have an adventure ourselves."

Traximus' tale went on about how he and his friend arrived on a strange planet when their space craft had technological trouble. As they searched for someone who could help, they ran into one obstacle after another on the planet, using their fighting skills and warrior instincts to survive. Finally, when they were in range of a city where they could find someone to fix their ship, a gang of thieves dropped down and attacked them.

"We were outnumbered four to one. It wasn't good, and we were both tired from the day's excursions. But we had no choice. It was kill or be killed. So we pulled out our laser guns and. . ." Traximus stopped in mid-sentence and looked at the group of children whose eyes had grown larger and larger by the minute. He had been so into the story that he had been gesturing wildly and acting out what had happened. As he paused, he straightened up.

"And then what happened?" Raphael shouted, getting into the story.

Traximus cleared his throat. "But. . .uh. . .we put our guns away, and decided that violence wasn't the answer. We talked to the thieves, and persuaded them to give up their life of evil. Then we were all friends, and lived happily ever after. The end."

"Hurray," the children shouted, and clapped their hands.

The Daimyo's son gave Traximus a look of disbelief, to which the latter could only shrug to the former.

"And then what happened?" Raphael shouted impatiently. "How did you get off the planet?"

"Um. . .Our new friends gave us a ride. Now who wants to play hide-and-seek?" the large warrior asked, evading any other questions that might pop up.

Donatello was the first to raise his hands, his entire soul filling up with joy of being near a dinosaur. It was like a dream come true.

While the other children started the game, Leo and Raph wandered off to look around the room. It was large, bigger than their entire lair and was filled with toys. The two turtles acted like a couple of treasure hunters finding a pharaoh's tomb, but was almost too afraid to touch anything.

"It should be okay for us to play with this stuff, right?" Raphael asked, looking around with concern.

"The other kids are playing with them, but it looks too nice," Leo said with worry. "Let's just try not to break anything, or Splinter will get mad."

Raphael spotted something in the corner.

"Hey, let's play with this furry ball. There's no way we can break that," Raph suggested, running to the mentioned item. Just has he grabbed the white ball and tried to pick it up, it squeaked and hit him. "Ow. What the. . ." He backed away and the ball seemed to grow appendages and eyes. The eyes were frowning at him.

"Who are you that have disturbed me?" the white, puffy ball demanded.

"Whoa, it talked," Leo pointed out the obvious surprised.

The white ball stood up completely, and to the turtles complete bafflement turned into a fluffy, white rabbit with simple samurai style clothing on and his ears that appeared to be too big for him tied up on his head. "I'll ask you again," the rabbit said in a young voice. "Who are you?"

"I'm Leonardo. And this is my brother, Raphael," Leonardo said.

"Are you a samurai's apprentice as well?" the rabbit asked, his eyes still locked on the turtles.

"Um, no. We're ninjas," Raphael answered boldly.

"Ninja?" It was the rabbit's turn to act surprised. "Then you are my enemy." Clumsily, he reached to his side, pulled out a practice bamboo sword and pointed it at the turtles.

Leo and Raph jumped back in time to avoid the bamboo sword.

"Hey, stop it," Raphael shouted, and slapped the bamboo sword away.

The rabbit in turn, hit Raphael over the head with it.

"Cut it out. Don't hit my brother," Leonardo shouted, and immediately kicked the wooden sword out of the rabbit's hand.

"Hey, what's going on here?" the Daimyo's son shouted, and pushed the turtles away as he picked up the rabbit. "No fighting."

"He started it. He hit, Raphie," Leo accused, pointing judgingly at the rabbit.

"They are dishonorable kame ninjas. The two of them were going to attack me while I was taking my nap. My sensei said that's how a coward attack. Dishonorable!" the rabbit shouted, waving his tiny arms around.

"That's enough. All three of you are going into time out," the Daimyo's son told them all.

"I don't have to listen to you, ninja," the rabbit shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the Daimyo's son.

"Didn't your sensei tell you that you had to," the red-head said, frowning very intensely. "Do you want to dishonor your sensei by disobeying him, Usagi?"

The rabbit now known as Usagi suddenly looked very shy, as if he suddenly remembered the command and felt very guilty. He looked down, his large ears sagging. "No," he said softly to the Daimyo's son.

"Good. Then the three of you stand here for a few minutes, and think about what you have done."

The two turtles and Usagi stood in opposite corners with their faces toward the wall. The Daimyo's son would yell at them if they tried to turn around and watch the other children play.

"Hey, Leo," Raph whispered softly to his brother. "That kid, he's a rabbit. You know, a hare from the story."

"Yeah, that's right. Like in the book Lavie read to us," Leo remembered

"He doesn't look so fast," Raph observed, looking at Usagi who was on the other side of the room. "I bet we could beat him in a race."

"Definitely. And it's not fair that we got into trouble because of him," Leo grumbled, catching his brother's bad mood. "He started it."

Raphael rubbed his head where he could feel a bump forming. "Then let's challenge him to a race."

"But where? The room's too small, and I bet we can't go outside."

"Yes we can, but we'll have to distract that guy," Raphael, nodding to the Daimyo's son. "And I know how."

The two turtles started whispering to each other, which didn't go unnoticed. Usagi had glanced in their direction, and noticed them planning something. He watched them with interest until they looked over to him. As soon as they saw he was watching them, the two turtles stuck out their tongues at him. In retaliation, Usagi made a face at them, and returned to staring at the wall angrily.

After a few more minutes of waiting, the Daimyo's son let them go back to the rest of the children. Usagi, after finding his bamboo sword, went into the corner and started practicing a basic move over and over again. After a while, a few of the older kids had gone over to him to watch.

The turtles had, however, joined the larger group of children who were playing with Traximus, but they only went there to find their youngest brother.

"Hey, Mikey. Get over here," Raphael gestured for Mikey to join them.

Being so easy going, Mikey didn't think twice about obeying his brother. "Hey, I saw that you got into trouble," he said with a smile. "What did you do?"

"Shut up," Raph muttered, and folded his arms. "We need you to do something for us."

"What?"

"We just need you to distract the Daimyo's son for a while," Leo told him.

"Why?"

"Just do it, Mikey," Raph told him with authority. "If you do, we'll each owe you a dessert."

"Okay. But how am I going to distract him?" Mikey wondered.

"Just stand over there," Leo showed Mikey by pointing by the door. "And when you hear one of us whistle, just start running. The Daimyo's son will follow after you. But you have to be fast."

"Okay. That sounds easy," Mikey said happily, laughing.

"Now, go. And don't go until you hear us," Raph said, pushing his brother away. When the youngest turtling was out of range, Raphael started toward the rabbit. "Okay, let's go."

Leo followed, feeling full of indignation as he reminded himself what that Usagi had done to him and his brothers. And the things he said about them and ninjas. Well, they're going to prove him wrong.

"Hey, you," Raphael started pushing through the small group of kids to get to the rabbit. "Stop that and listen to us," he said and grabbed the sword. "You're going to pay for saying those things about us."

"Yeah, ninjas aren't dishonorable," Leonardo said with determination.

"Yes, they are," Usagi argued.

"No, they aren't. Our father is a great ninja, and he's the most honorable person in the whole world," Leo said as proof.

"Well, my sensei is even more honorable, and he has to fight ninjas all the time because they do dishonorable things," Usagi argued back.

"You're dishonorable," Raph shouted, his anger getting to him.

"Take that back, kame," the little rabbit shouted, red showing on his cheeks in rage as he raised the wooden sword to Raphael's chest. "Take it back."

"Make me," Raph growled.

Usagi made a move to hit Raphael, but Leo shouted, "Stop it. We're challenging you to a race to show you that ninjas are honorable," Leo told Usagi.

"Why would that prove you are honorable? That's stupid," Usagi sneered.

"You're stupid," Raphael shouted back.

"Look," Leonardo tried to explain, "it just does, okay?"

Usagi thought about it, and then nodded. "Fine, I accept your challenge, ninja. Where is this race going to be at though, huh? Plus the Daimyo's son will stop us."

Raphael looked like he wanted to jump Usagi for his tone, but Leo answered the rabbit's questions. "We have that covered. In a little while, we'll race to the end of the hall and back. First one to get back to this doorway wins. Okay?"

The samurai apprentice nodded his head; his large ears flipped into his eyes, and he had to push them back.

At that, Leonardo and Raphael both whistled, watching Mikey as they did it.

The youngest turtle, bored as he waited, perked up as he heard the whistles. Immediately after, he started to shout, "Hey, I'm going to find my father. Bye!" and then ran out the door full speed.

"Hey, you. Get back here," the Daimyo's son shouted, and raced after him.

"Okay, c'mon," Leonard told the other two, and went to the door. He watched as Mikey and the Daimyo's son rounded a corner before stepping out. He pointed in the opposite direction that Mikey went. "This is the hall we'll race. Nobody cross this line until I say go. This is going to be fair," he said as if showing the rabbit that he was honorable.

Usagi nodded, and took his place next to the line. He stretched one leg and then the other, just as his master had taught him, and readied himself at the line.

The two turtles did the same.

"Ready?" Raph asked the two.

Both Raphael and Usagi nodded.

"Three. . .Two. . . One. . .GO!"

The three of them shot to a run, their tiny feet thudding against the wood planks as they sprinted neck to neck. The hall was long, and at the end they could see the distant Japanese style wall covered with decorated rice paper. Each one had that point focused in their mind's eye, determined to beat the other two to that goal. The floor was smooth, yet the grooves and grains in the wood gave them traction. Their breaths came out in a labored rhythm that matched the pumping of their arms, and the pounding of their feet. In one smooth motion, all three of them slid to a stop with their toes inches from the wall and slapped the wood paneling. Once again, they were off again, running in the opposite direction that they had came, their eyes now focused on the door of the daycare center. The three of them gave it all they had for this second half of the race, doubling their efforts when they felt one of the others move ahead. If this race had been at a track, there would have to be a photo finish to determine the winner. However, the three wouldn't know who would cross the finish line first due to the fact that a green figure with an orange bandana ran across their race pattern.

"Mikey!" Raphael exclaimed as he saw his brother run through a hall that ran perpendicular to theirs.

The three, after the younger turtle ran out of sight, realized what they were running toward. But they couldn't stop in time, and skidded into the legs and stomach of the Daimyo's son.

When the crash was over, the teenager found a turtle sitting on his stomach, another laying over his legs and a rabbit's foot in his face.

"What the. . .What are you little brats doing out?" the Daimyo's son shouted in rage.

"Uh oh," Leo cried out. "Run, you guys."

Once more, the two turtles and rabbit found themselves racing down the same hallway, only they were running away from the Daimyo's son's wrath. And instead of heading to the back wall, they skidded around a corner and down another hallway.

"Come back here!" the young man's voice carried down the hallway.

The three children didn't heed his words, they were more fearful of what might happen if they obeyed than what would happen if they didn't. The adrenalin in their system made them keep going at a quick pace, even though they had used up so much energy before.

"Quickly, go right," Leonardo told them, pointing to another adjacent hallway. They turned sharply, just as the Daimyo's son dove at them to grab a limb. But his hands enclosed over air.

This new hallway was darker since it was further into the house and no sunlight shone in. As they turned the corner, Raphael almost tripped over a box that he didn't see, hitting his leg against it. Because of this, he fell a few steps behind his brother and Usagi. However, the box Raph ran into wasn't the only one; there were many of them on either side of the hall way, and sometimes they were laying from one end to another. Both the turtles and the rabbit had to dodge around and jump over these obstacles, knowing very well that each one slowed them down.

The Daimyo's son didn't even hesitate to follow, the small boxes were only a nuisance to him while they were like hurdles for the children. He, however, did curse the turtles to choose this hallway to run down. This particular hallway was currently being used as a store room, boxes place helter-skelter wherever they fell until there was a place to put them. Eventually, the hallway became so cluttered that only the more enthusiastic servants went there for some extra work. However, the Daimyo's son knew the palace more than the children he was chasing, and smiled. He knew exactly what was at the other end of the hallway.

After a while of running and jumping over boxes, the obstacles started getting bigger. Some of the piles they had to jump against the wall to reach the top and scramble over. Usagi and Leo could no longer run abreast, so Leo took the lead, quickly finding the fastest way through the debris. However, he stopped when a majority of the hallway was blocked by a wall of boxes. The only space that wasn't blocked off was a small hole near the ceiling, maybe big enough for a turtle.

"Raphie, jump," Leo called to his brother as he cupped his hands.

Raphael, ran to his brother, and used his brother's hands as a step. As he jumped, Leo pushed his brother upward to the hole. Raphael scrambled through. It was big enough for him to crawl through, but it was a tight squeeze when he turned around.

"I'm up," he called down.

"Okay, rabbit. You're next," Leo told Usagi.

"My name is not. . ."

"Hurry up!" Leo interrupted.

Usagi took a step back so he could get a few running steps, and leapt out of Leonardo's hands up to the hole. Raphael grabbed the samurai's apprentice's hand, and pulled him through.

Without thinking about who would catch him, Leo leapt with everything he had. His hand grabbed a hold of something furry. Usagi pulled the turtle up as fast as he could, his small body straining under the turtle's weight. Leonardo felt relieved as he made it up, but then he felt hands near his feet. Screaming as loudly as he could, Leonardo kicked and pulled his feet away from the hands, pushing his brother and the white rabbit off the boxes onto the other side. The three tumbled one after the other onto the wooden floor, moaning and rubbing hurt heads, hands and knees.

From the other side of the box, they could hear the Daimyo's son yelling and cursing at them as he tried to follow them. But his shoulders were too broad, and he became stuck halfway through.

Raphael was the first to see the Daimyo's son through the hole, and he started to scream. His screams made Leo and Usagi scream as well, the three in perfect high pitch to cause anyone's ears to suffer. They started crawling away as fast as they could, until they noticed the teenager wasn't coming through the hole. As the young man struggled, Raphael pointed up and laughed.

"Ha ha ha. Now you can't get us, ya big fatty," Raphael mocked as he pulled a face at the Daimyo's son.

Leonardo joined in with the taunting, using his fingers to twist his face.

Usagi looked at the turtles with wide eyes as they laughed at the Daimyo's son's situation. He suddenly wanted to join in their fun, some childish feelings welling up inside him. Finally, he stuck his tongue out at the teenager, something his master would berate him for doing.

"I'm going to get you, you little brats," the Daimyo's son shouted, and once again tried to scramble through the hole.

The three once again screamed and ran away at the ninja's fury.

**********

It took Michelangelo a few minutes before he realized he wasn't being pursued anymore. And it took a moment after that to realize he had no idea where he was and how to get back to his brothers. Before his fear could overwhelm him, a strange figure exited one of the rooms through the sliding door. The person looked very strange, something only dreams and imagination came close to preparing him for a sight. He ducked behind a corner to hide from the creature, and watched it secretly as it lumbered away. His mind then became filled with only curiosity, and he followed silently. It was like playing hide-and-seek, or going through one of Splinter's lessons on invisibility.

However, the game of spying on the creature came to an end as it went through a large doorway which led to the outside. Mikey had every intention of following the creature, but once he popped his head out into the cool breeze, his breath was taken away. Never in his entire life had he seen a sight so wonderful and awesome as the one he saw. Thousands of people of all sorts of colors, shapes, races and everything in between sat on rows and rows of seats of a bowl like arena, staring at the middle where over a dozen people were fighting. While Mikey was far away from the arena, he saw that hovering above the seats was what appeared to be a large TV screen, except so much more cooler. The screen was showing a close up of what was happening in the arena. Mikey was captivated by the images, and his wonder doubled when familiar face appeared.

"Splinter," Mikey shouted, and then covered his mouth. He looked around, and sighed when nobody seemed to notice him. He then turned to the screen to watch his father who was, to the young turtle's surprise, fighting a creature twice his size. The rat, due to his smaller frame, was able to jump and dodge faster than his opponent. However his opponent wielded a large sword, which looked so much more the advantage than Splinter's walking stick. But Splinter's deft fighting style soon wore out his opponent, and he was able to make his final move. The creature disappeared before Splinter's walking stick hit it, and the crowd cheered as a disembodied voice announced the rat the winner.

Mikey's eyes grew twice their size at the fight. His tiny hands gripped the corner he was trying to hide behind. It was something he could barely believe. He had never seen his father do such things. It almost seemed impossible. Is this what a real ninja was like?

"This is so cool," he whispered to himself.

**********

The two turtles fell in a heap, struggling to breathe from the strenuous exercise they had put themselves through. Before they allowed themselves to rest though, they had found a small niche where they could hide for a while. Usagi, too, sat down to rest by pulling on his clothes to let air cool his fur. There were some disadvantages to being a rabbit.

It wasn't long after their breathing started to slow down that Raphael started to chuckle.

"Did you see that guy's face? He was so mad," he laughed and slapped Leo's shell.

"Hee hee. He was turning red when he tried to fit through that hole," Leo added, remembering the sight.

That's when they heard the rabbit laughing as well. "It wasn't as funny as the looks on you kame's faces when he shouted at us," Usagi told them. "You were so scared."

"I wasn't scared," Raphael defended.

"You were screaming just as loud, rabbit," Leo said, also on the defense.

The laughing stopped.

"My name is not 'rabbit'," Usagi told them with a frown.

"And we're not kame. My name is Leonardo," the older turtle said back.

"And I'm Raphael."

"My name is Usagi."

There was a slight pause, but then Leonardo smiled as he remembered how Usagi helped to pulled him up.

"Well then, Raphie, Usagi, we need to figure out a way back without being caught," Leo told them, and started to look around the room. "Any ideas?"

I don't even remember the way back," Raphael admitted with a frown.

"I remember the way back," Usagi told them. "My master's room isn't too far from here, so I know the way."

"That's great. Now, how to get back without being seen," Leonardo wondered, his eyes wandering around the room once more. Suddenly his eyes moved up the wall to the ceiling. Above them, one of the ceiling's panels had been removed, leaving an empty square. "Hey, we can move from above," he said, and pointed upward.

The other two children looked up to where he was pointing to see their way of escape.

"Okay, Leo. You go up first," Raphael told his brother, and position himself to give Leo a jump start up to the ceiling.

Leonardo didn't even hesitate, but quickly ran to his brother and jumped out of his cupped hands. As he flew through the air, the oldest turtle was surprised at how high his brother was able to toss him. He was able to jump through the hold without having to grab hold of the side and climb up. It made Leo wonder if Raphael was stronger than him since before when Leo tossed Raph up into the air, the younger brother didn't have to go so high. However, Leo couldn't dwell on that for long when he heard his brother cry out in pain.

"Raphie, are you okay?" He leaned over the side to see what had happened.

"My leg. I hurt it when we were running through those boxes," Raphael told his brother. "It just hurt for a minute when I tossed you."

"Then you go up next, Raphael," Usagi said in a plain voice and positioned himself for the throw.

The red-bandana turtle looked at the white rabbit skeptically. "Are you sure you can? You don't look like you can throw me that high." While Usagi was the same height as the turtles (without the ears), he had a smaller frame and most of his thickness was his young rabbit fur puffing out. The turtles were thick with their shell and solid frame, even if they were children.

Usagi smiled as if it were a challenge. "I believe that I am capable of doing this," he told the turtle.

"Okay, here goes," Raphael readied himself, and took off running toward the rabbit. He tried not to show it, but every step he took with his left leg hurt a bit, but he bore it. He ran with the intent of jumping with his good leg. As he stepped into Usagi's hands, he was surprised at the rabbit's strength, just as Leo had with his. He flew toward the hole, and almost made it on his own. As he slowed down, Leo took his hand and helped him up the rest of the way.

The two turtles knelt down and looked down through the hole. Usagi was on the ground, the force of trying to throw Raphael with all his might made him tumble backward.

"C'mon Usagi. Jump as high as you can, and we'll catch you," Leonardo told the rabbit, reaching down as far as he could.

The samurai apprentice went to the opposite side of the room to gain speed for the jump. He raced through the room, and jumped, not at the hole, but at the wall. He kicked against it, to gain more height. It was just enough for him to catch a hold of Leonardo's hand. Raphael reached down to grab his other one, and the two of them hauled him up.

The three sat down a while to rest and look around their surroundings. They were sitting on the wooden rafters of the house frame. They could only see a few yards away due to the dim lighting. Between the wooden beams were the thin ceiling paneling.

Raphael tested the paneling carefully, putting more and more weight on it with his foot. After a while, there were sounds of the paneling giving in.

"Looks like we'll have to stay on the wood beams," Leonardo said. "Usagi, you know the way, so you lead." The rabbit nodded. He first looked back into the room to get his bearings, and then mentally traced the way in his mind. "This way," he said and started off down the beam.

For a regular adult, the beams could have been a test for balance, but the small children, who regularly were trained to keep their balance, they found the beams easy to run across. When they came across their first pillar, Usagi deftly sprang across to it without difficulty.

When it came to Leonardo's turn, he called out to his brother, "Hey, watch this." With a quick skip, he leapt into the air, turned a somersault, and then landed on the beam next to Usagi. "I can do that," Raphael shouted. He followed after his older brother, landing between him and Usagi

"Not bad, kame. . .er Raphael," Usagi said with a smile. "But can you do this?" Usagi ran to the next pill, and continued to run up it a ways before kicking off into a back flip.

"Wow, that was awesome," Raphael told the rabbit with a big smile.

"Not as awesome as this," Leo shouted, and pushed himself up by Raphael's shoulders, jumping over his brother and then tumbling down on the beam. As he rolled off his back, he jumped back up running.

"Hey," Raphael exclaimed with indignation at being used that way. He started running after his brother.

When Usagi saw the turtles running toward him, he jumped away to the next beam. "This way, guys," he told them.

Soon, the three of them were running, jumping, flipping, and tumbling all over from one beam to another. Sometimes they would be running on different beams, playing a mixture of tag, follow the leader and dare devil, laughing and calling out to each other. Sometimes, one of the turtles would get ahead of Usagi and miss a turn, having to double back on a different beam. However, the rabbit was caught up in the game, and while he was leading them in the right direction he wasn't in much of a hurry to get there. Often he would move in a different direction more to extend the time they were up in the rafters.

Since they were caught up in their games, they didn't know how much noise their jumping and laughing reverberated below them. The Daimyo's house was mainly empty, except for those few who were watching the daycare, one being the owner's son who was still wandering the halls for the mischievous children. He was thinking of heading back and tell on the kids to their masters (that'll show the little brats) when he heard the rambunctious children above him. He was at first stunned by the kids ingenuity to get into the rafter, but then he frowned at the thought of one of them falling through the thin paneling to the floor. If one of them got hurt . . .the consequences for him would be bad, but a part of him also worried for the children. With a deep frown on his face, he went into the nearest room, and did his best to climb up into the rafters.

***********

Michelangelo was beside himself as he soaked up the excitement of the crowd. His senses were in overdrive, trying to soak everything up which was too much for his little turtle mind to handle. He was starting to feel dizzy as he watched one by one the different matches go by. His heart pounded in his chest every time he could see his father fighting on the big screen. He even became a little brave at the end and shouted for his father to win. However, one match didn't go so well, and to Michelangelo's surprise, his father disappeared from the screen, much like the others who lost their match. Michelangelo blinked a few times, wondering what to do next. He rarely used enough foresight in his daily life, and just thought on the fly. However, this was one of the few times he was unsure what to do. Since Splinter lost, Michelangelo's desire to watch the fighting had lessened, and he immediately wanted to see if his father was okay. Then he saw his father standing next to what appeared to be a giant with a scarey mask. However, Splinter seemed not afraid of being near the giant. The two seemed to be talking amiably as the tournament continued.

Mikey felt much better now that he saw that his father was fine. But now he came to a difficult problem. H needed to find a way to get up to the platform that was raised above the crowd where Splinter was but how? He ran behind the crowd's seats along the wall until he was underneath the platform.

Michelangelo may not be as focused, or as strong, or as smart as his brothers, but there was one thing he was good at, and that was getting people to do what he wanted. And his most dangerous weapon: he could be very cute and he knew it. Mikey searched around to make sure there were people around who could help him, and did what he usually did to get Lavinya's attention and pity.

He started to cry.

He started off softly, and as he got his tears to really start to flow his sobbing escalated. It wasn't long before a few of the strange people heard him over the cheering and turned around. Some of them looked around to see if there was someone coming to the aid of the child. Others hesitated, wondering how they should help him. One quickly stepped over and knelt down, hand on the turtle's shell.  
"Ah, what's the matter, little guy?" the gentle voice asked.

Mikey looked up to see who had bought his act, and nearly broke his acting at the sight. The guy was the biggest person he had ever since. The man's hand was nearly bigger than Mikey. But Mikey continued to rub his eyes.

"My daddy. I want my daddy," he said in his most pitiful voice. "I went to look for him, and I got lost."

"Oh. And what's your daddy's name?" the man said, his voice far gentler than his appearance suggests.

"Splinter."

"I know that name. He was in the Battle Nexis. He lost a few minutes ago, but I think I saw him talking to the Daimyo," the man said, standing up. "Yes, there he is. Let's get you to him, little man."

To Michelangelo's surprise, the man picked him up in one of his giant hands, and lifted the tiny turtle all the way up to the Daimyo's platform. The turtle cried out in surprise and then joy at how high he was. When his feet came into contact with the platform, he turned around and waved down at the giant.

"Thanks mister," he called, his crocodile tears completely gone.

"Michelangelo?"

The turtle looked behind him at the sound of his father's voice, and then smiled widely. "Splinter!" he called and ran to his father, burying his face in the kimono.

"What are you doing here, my son?"

Once again, Mikey knew what do to. He turned up the cuteness. "I missed you, father. I wanted to see you, but I got lost and I was so scared." Tears welled up in his eyes.

Splinter's face softened at the child's words. However, he winced as Michelangelo hugged him harder. The tournament had not been kind to him. "Easy, my son. Easy. You're alright, now," he comforted the turtle.

"Ah, they're so cute at that age," a deep voice noted. The Daimyo had moved behind Splinter to see the young turtle. "I remember when my son was at that age. I wished that time would never end."

"Yes, they are my blessings," Splinter said, and rubbed Michelangelo's head. "Are you okay, Michelangelo? Are you ready to go get your brothers?"

"No, wait. Stay for the rest of the tournament," the Daimyo pleaded. "It's almost over. You're son has obviously seen some of the Battle Nexus. He can watch the rest."

"But your son may be looking for him," Splinter said.

"I'll send a servant to tell him," the Daimyo explained while waving a hand to show that's what he wanted to be done.

Splinter nodded. "Do you want to watch?" he asked his son.

Seeing that everything was going how he wanted, Mikey suddenly became bright eyed and smiling. "Yeah." He ran to the edge of the platform to get a better look.

"Be careful, my son," Splinter warned, going after the turtle with a worried look on his face.

********

"We're almost there," Usagi announced, as he hopped another beam. The three of them had been playing for a while, which had been rigorous exercise. Slowly, their jumps weren't as high and their laughter was less frequent. Usagi almost didn't make it on one of his leaps, but a quick hand of Leonardo's gave the rabbit some more balance.

"Thanks. I'm getting a little tired," Usagi said and whipped his forehead.

"You aren't the only one," Leonardo told him. "This is better than the training Splinter puts us through." At that, Leonardo glanced at his younger brother, who tried to pretend that his leg didn't hurt anymore. "It's a good thing we're almost there, then we can rest."

"Hey, hurry up," Raphael shouted from behind them. "What if Splinter comes back and we're not there?"

"Right, so could my master," Usagi said, and was off again. However he didn't get very far when a dark shadow loomed over him. As Usagi saw the limbs of the shadow approach to grab him, he screamed and doubled back.

The turtles could barely see what it was beyond Usagi's large ears, but by the rabbit's urges they started to run in the opposite direction as well.

When they reached on end of the beam they were on, Leonardo told them, "Split up," and they each jumped to a different beam.

It only took Raphael a few steps to realize that he was the unlucky one that the shadow came after. As he tried to double his efforts, his leg gave off a sharp pain that left him falling to the beam. A strong force grabbed him by his shell and tried to lift him up. He hung on to the beam with his hands the best he could, and then kicked at his attacker with his feet.

"Leo! Leo, help! Usagi!" he shouted as loud as he could.

When he heard his brother calling, Leonardo didn't even hesitate, but started back with all his strength. He didn't even question his fear, not when his brother was in trouble. As he met up with the crossroads where they split up, Usagi came bounding behind him, his little wooden sword drawn. They didn't need to say anything; they knew what needed to be done. As they came upon Raphael and his attacker, Usagi used Leonardo's shell as a step to leap high in the air. As the samurai apprentice attacked the shadow from above, Leonardo attacked from below with a roundhouse kick.

As Usagi's sword and Leonardo's leg connected with the shadow, they heard it shout out in pain and saw it loose it's balance and fall off the rafter. As its body connected with the flimsy panels, the creature's weight made the panels crack and splinter. It fell through the ceiling.

The three children looked down to see the Daimyo's son sprawled on the floor among the debris.

"We've killed the Daimyo's son," Usagi said his voice getting higher. "I've dishonored my master!" His eyes grew wider as thoughts of seppuku flashed through his mind.

"Nah, he's okay. Look," Raphael said to reassure Usagi, pointing downward. "He's moving."

That's when Traximus moved into their view. He held four or five children in his arms, one wrapped up in his tail as if he moved them rapidly. After setting them down, he check the Daimyo's son.

"Leo! Raph! Hi," Donatello shouted and waved up at them.

"All right, you three. You've caused enough trouble, so come on down," Traximus told them, and reached up to easily pick them up and set them down on the floor of the daycare.

The Daimyo's son sat up tentatively. "Those little brats. . .I'm gonna. . ."

"Go lie down. You can't blame these kids for just being kids," Traximus said gently. "And you've brought them back safely, which is what your father would want you to do."

The Daimyo's son frowned and looked away. "There's still one of Splinter-san's sons out there. I got to go find him too."

"You rest. The Daimyo has sent someone to tell you that the other turtle is with his father. All is well," Traximus said with an amused grin. It was as if he knew what kind of trouble a child could get into and knew it was all harmless fun. "C'mon kids. Let's leave the Daimyo's son to rest. Besides, he can't save you from the TICKLE MONSTER! ROAR!" Traximus growled loudly, and started stomping towards the closest kids slowly.

All the kids screamed, ran away laughing and tried to stay out of the large Triceraton's reach.

The day passed on quickly as the kids played one game after another. One by one, the other kids left as their parents or masters came to pick them up. Finally, it was down to the three turtles and Usagi.

Since there were only the four of them, Traximus let them climb onto his back as he walked around on all fours. He would jump and wiggle around, creating a sort of roller-coaster ride for the four children. They were so busy having fun that they didn't notice as a small group of adults that stood watching them in the doorway.

"It looks as if your wards have given my son a good workout."

Splinter nodded with a shrug as if he sympathized with the teenager, and patting his youngest who was asleep in his arms. "They are a handfull."

The man beside his gave out a chuckle. "And I though my one student was enough. You have earned my respect, Splinter-san."

The rat bowed gratefully. "They look like they are having fun. It's a shame that they won't remember it." "Yes," the Daimyo sighed. "When they wake up tomorrow, it will seem little more than a dream. Their memories of this place will slowly slip away as they gain consciousness."

"Perhaps one year, they may all return to the Battle Nexus, and be able to go home with their memories intact," the other man said.

Splinter didn't react to that comment, but inside he didn't want to think that far into the future. He didn't want to think that his sons in the Battle Nexus was in the near future. He wanted them to stay this young and innocent, to always be his little turtles.

"Usagi. It's time to go," the man's voice pulled Splinter away from his thoughts.

The rabbit's ears stood up a little as he saw his master. He smiled widely, and jumped off Traximus' back. He was about to run to his master, when he turned around and bowed to the Triceraton. "Thank you, Traximus-san, for taking care of me."

The Triceraton, first allowing the three turtles to slide off, bowed back. "It was a pleasure, little one. Come back and see me next tournament."

"I will," the rabbit chirped. He then moved to the turtles and bowed. "Good-bye, Raphael-san and Leonardo-san."

The turtles bowed back.

"Bye. . .Rabbit," Raphael said with an impish grin on his face.

"Kame," Usagi said with the same smile.

"Bye, Usagi-san," Leonardo said. "We're friends, right, Usagi-san?"

The rabbit looked surprised, and then smiled. "Yes, Leonardo-san. We're friends." With that, the rabbit ran to his master, turning around once to wave at them before leaving.

"Splinter," Donatello shouted when he saw his father. "Guess what I did? I got to ride a dinosaur," he said excitedly, pointing to Traximus.

"Ah, did you have fun?"

"You bet I did," Donatello said, his enthusiasm not wavering. "This is the coolest day ever."

"He's certainly taken a liking to you," Splinter commented to Traximus.

"As have I. It's not often that a child takes to one of my people so quickly," Traximus said, smiling as tenderly as he could.

"Come on, my sons. It's time to go home," Splinter said.

Both Raphael and Leonardo went to their father's side, but Donatello instead went to the Triceraton. He pulled on the large man's pant leg, and Traximus knelt down to his level. Donatello threw his arms around Traximus' face. "Thank you, Mr. Dinosaur. You're the best," Donatello said sweetly.

Traximus blushed at the attention, and rubbed the turtle's head, musing up the purple bandana. "Good-bye, Donatello."

The turtle waved good-bye as he ran to his father, who was turning to the Daimyo.

"I think we're ready to go now," Splinter said.

The Daimyo's lifted his staff, and it started to emit a blue, electric light. As the light grew brighter, the turtles started to feel sleepier and sleepier. Then they closed their eyes.

*********

When Lavinya came to visit the turtles once more, she came in the morning before her shift at the restaurant began. She carried with her the ingredients to make cinnamon rolls for a treat to the turtles. As soon as she entered the lair, all four of the turtles ran to her competing for her attention.

"Guess what, Lavie. I had the coolest dream."

"I had a better one."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yuh-uh."

"Mine's better."

"Mine had a dinosaur in it."

"Whoa, guys," Lavie cut in abruptly. "One at a time, boys. I only have two ears."

"I wanna go first," Donatello said, waving his hand around like he was in a classroom.

"Okay, Donny. Let's hear it."

"There was a dinosaur in my dream. And he told stories, and played games with me, and he let me ride on his back."

"Oh, so he wasn't a scary dinosaur."

"Nope. He was a Triceratops. And he wore pants."

"That's amazing."

"Me next," Raphael cried out, stepping in front of Donatello. "I was being chased by a huge guy, but I was moving so fast. I was jumping up walls and doing flips. He couldn't catch me," the young turtle explained so enthusiastically.

"Wow. That's so cool. Did you get away?"

"No, he caught me. It was so scary."

"Then what happened."

The little turtle opened his mouth to say, but then stopped. He looked confused. "I don't know. I guess I woke up."

"That's like my dream," Leonardo said, looking surprised. "But the guy didn't catch me. I beat him up. And I made a friend."

"Wow, that's great. What was your friend like?"

"He was a rabbit."

"Awww. How cute. What about you, Mikey? What did you dream about?"

"IdreamedthatIwasinatournament,.Iwasthechampion," Mikey said in a quick stream of words.

"Psh, like that'll ever happen," Raphael snorted

"Wow, Splinter. Your sons have quite an imagination," Lavie commented with a laugh.

"Yes, they do," Splinter said with a knowing smile.


	5. Chapter 5: Independence

(Author's Note: I apologize to my readers that this chapter has taken so long to release. I've been busy for the past year or so, the biggest thing was that I was married less than a year ago, and I've been trying to get my life back to a normal geek life. I almost dropped this story, but I really wanted to finish it. However, this chapter wasn't my best. It's not the greatest, but I wanted to write a chapter just for Donatello, to go more into how he became the TMNT we know him to be now. Thank you for your patience.

Also, I don't usually promote my other writings so much, but if any of you have time, please look at my other stories, especially my Ice Age story. I'm just barely posting it, and it's really fun. Thank you for listening to my shameful promoting.)

_Our father always tried to make sure we had a proper education besides learning the ninja arts. He taught us how to read and write when we were very young. When we met Lavinya, our education increased. She brought us plenty of books she found at used book stores. After that, Splinter started teaching us the basic of English, math, history, science, and art as well as a little Japanese. Between our father and Lavinya, we received the same education as normal, human children, and a little extra. My brothers went through our education just as they would our ninja training. Sometime reluctantly, sometimes readily, but they learned. But for me, there was something different. While I liked to learn ninjutsu, I felt more inclined to learn from books. I soon found the regular lessons boring, and went forward in the books until I had left my brothers behind. _

Heroes of the Past, Children of Honor

Chapter 5: Independence

By Emilou aka Hatashi Kitty

One Year Later

"I'm done with mine," Leo announced, and shut his book. "Can I go play now?"

"Let me look at your work first," Splinter said, and picked up Leonardo's math book. He checked at all the answers to make sure they were correct. "Excellent, you did very well, Leonardo. Go and play."

"I'm done, too," Mikey said quickly, and showed his work to Splinter.

Splinter looked at Michelangelo's workbook, and had his youngest redo two math problems before he let the young turtle go.

Soon after Raphael followed, Splinter frowning at his sloppy handwriting and a few incorrect answers. But before Splinter could ask him to correct them, the red masked turtle had disappeared. He sighed, but let it go. Then he turned to the last turtle at the table.

"Donatello, are you having trouble? Do you need some help?" Splinter asked, looking over Donny's shoulder.

"No, I'm good," he said, swinging his legs under the table.

Splinter looked at the turtling's work, and was surprised. Donatello was on the wrong page, working on much more difficult math problems. No wonder he didn't finish as quickly as his brothers.

"Perhaps you would do better if you started on the problems that I showed you how to do," Splinter said, and turned back to the right page.

"But I already did those pages, Father," Donny said, looking up into the rat's face.

It was true. Donatello had worked on ten pages more than his brothers.

"Didn't you hear me say we'll only do the first page?" Splinter asked.

Donatello's eyes widened, and shook his head. "You taught us how to add on the chalk board, and I tried it out in the book. I guess I just kept going."

"Well, you can stop now. The others are already playing," Splinter said, and pulled the chair away from the table to help his son.

"Okay," Donatello said happily. He grabbed his teddy bear that he kept with him and ran out.

Splinter sat down to look at Donatello's workbook, amazed that the young turtle was able to jump ahead in the lessons without help, and so quickly. He thought back on what led to this new routine.

A week ago Lavinya had told Splinter that the turtles were old enough to go to school if they were human, and suggested that the children should be taught more than just reading and writing. After discussing it for a while, the two of them set up a schedule where Splinter and Lavinya take turns teaching the turtlings math, spelling, and other basic subjects, as well as give the turtles time to play in between lessons. Yesterday, Lavinya had brought down some old workbooks that a retired first grade teacher had given her.

Splinter was sure he would be able to teach his sons well enough at this level, but he was unsure of the future years from now, especially since he was unlearned himself. Not only that, but Donatello was showing signs of advancing faster than his brothers.

Splinter started feeling worried that he might not be able to give his sons everything they need. It wasn't the first time he felt like this, but this time, he wasn't sure if he could find a definite solution.

He needed to talk to Lavinya.

* * *

Donny could hear his brothers kicking a ball around in the sewer tunnel outside their lair. They had found a way to block the water from coming in this direction to keep it safer for them. Mikey found it perfect for playing soccer.

However, Donny didn't feel like kicking the ball around. He liked to have fun, but he wanted to finish a book Lavinya and gave the turtles. He found the small chapter book on the shelf, and sat down on the couch. He made sure the stuffed bear could see the book as well, before he delved into the story.

A few minutes later, the sound of turtle feet came pounding inside, his brothers breathing hard.

"Hey, Donny. Aren't you finished yet?" Mikey called.

All three of them stopped at the couch.

"Come on, let's play. We need to have even teams," Leo told his brother, hanging off the arm of the couch.

"No thanks," Donney said tersely.

"C'mon, Donny. Put down the dumb book and play with us," Raph demanded, pulling on his brother's arm.

"It's not dumb," Donny yelled louder than he intended. "It's really good. I want to finish it today."

"What's it about?" Leo asked, interested. He liked books well enough, however, he preferred to be read to. But seeing that Donny was reading a book that wasn't a picture book made him curious.

"It's about a magic tree-house, and these kids use it to travel back in time to see dinosaurs," Donny said with a big smile. "It's really good."

"Where are the pictures?" Mikey asked, looking over his brother's shoulders to see.

"There are a few, but not many. It's a chapter book," Donny explained, then became quiet again as he went back to reading. When his brothers didn't leave him alone, Donny sighed. "Let me finish this chapter, and then I'll play soccer."

The three turtles cheered, and raced out of the lair to get the playing field ready.

Donny quickly read the rest of the chapter, and then one more. His brothers wouldn't know the difference. And he could read fast if he needed to. Once finished, he put the book back on the shelf before running out to join his brothers.

* * *

"I am worried about Donatello," Splinter said as he served tea to the young woman at the table.

Lavinya took the tea cup and set it down. "It looks like you have yourself a little genius. Most parents would be happy."

"Yes, I am very proud of him, but what I am to do?" Splinter inquired, his furry brows down. "With your help, I am able to teach my sons what they need, but with Donatello, I'm not sure if I can keep up with him. Already he's gone through the entire math workbook you've given him. He also reads at an alarming rate. Anything he can get his hands on. Not to mention, he takes apart everything to look inside."

"It just sounds like he's a normal, curious boy that just is more apt at learning," Lavinya told him. "Don't worry. I've been reading some books, and I have a few suggestions. But right now, the best thing you can do is encourage him to learn."

"I've also notice that he plays with the others less than usual. He prefers to read some days," Splinter said. "And sometimes, I think he'd rather read than continue his ninjutsu."

"That's normal. I remember how I'd read my books during recess at school all the time," Lavinya said. "It's all in a matter of taste. Some like chocolate ice-cream, some strawberry. He's establishing his identity. Around this age is when they start figuring out a little of who they are. They're all learning new things, and having new experiences. As I said, this is all normal."

Splinter was silent.

Lavinya studied the rat. "I have a feeling that you're having a harder time with this than Donny will," she said, sitting back in her chair. "What is is? Are you afraid Donny won't want to do ninjutsu? Because that's a possibility. The question is then, what will you do if he doesn't want to be a ninja?" She looked a the rat with expectant eyes.

Splinter sighed wearily. "I don't know. I guess I would accept his decision. Or maybe I'd ask him to continue for a little longer, to see if he would change his mind."

"Have you talked to him about it?" Lavinya asked.

Splinter shook his head.

"How much time do you spend with the turtles individually?" Lavinya asked.

Splinter shrugged. "Not much. I can't really spend time with one and ignore the others."

"But that's what they need," Lavinya told him. "They're all different, and need a one-on-one relationship with their father. Spend some time with each of them apart from their brothers. Ask what they like and dislike. I know it's hard, but they'll love you for it."

Splinter shook his head, and smiled. "How did you learn so much about being a parent without being one?"

Lavinya looked sad. "Sometimes it's not having a parent around that makes one aware of what they lack. Both my mother and father worked, so I didn't spend much time with either one of them. I wish that I did."

"I see. Thank you for sharing that with me," Splinter said.

As the two sat down, and Lavinya showed him some of the things she learned to help Donny, Splinter quietly harbored one fear that he didn't share with the human woman. One that was worse than Donatello not learning ninja skills. He knew the fear was silly, and he shouldn't bear it; but it was something he could feel nonetheless.

He feared that his son might become smarter than he was. And it was a strong possibility.

* * *

Just like many times that week, Donatello was perched on the couch with a book in hand. But instead of a story book like he started out with, he now had an electrician's manual he had found. Splinter said someone must have discarded it when they were fixing something down here. Donny couldn't explain it, but if he read something once, he could remember the entire thing, almost word for word. Much of it, he didn't understand; many words weren't known to him. But there were pictures and diagrams that he studied with interest, which helped him get a better idea at what the manual was teaching.

"Get off your butt and come play tag with us."

Donny was slow to lower the dog-eared book to see his brothers gathered around him.

"Naw, you guys play without me," Donny told them, and lifted up the book again, tightening his grip around his old bear.

"You'd rather read that dumb book then play with us?" Raph shouted, not sounding very happy about it.

"It's not dumb. It's interesting. It tell how to fix wires and stuff about electricity," Donny told his brother in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Sounds boring," Raph muttered.

"Yeah, it's not even a story book," Mikey agreed. "Why'd you want to read that?"

"Because I'm wanting to learn," Donny defended himself calmly. "I like learning."

"I hate learning. Especially math," Mikey said and stuck his tongue out.

"I'd rather play, too," Raph joined in.

"Father says that learning is important. He says that a ninja needs to train his mind just as much as he trains his body," Leo stepped in and crossed his arms.

Mikey and Raph didn't say anything against that. Nobody disputed what Splinter said.

"But Lavinya always say 'All work and no play, make turtles dull boys'," Mikey argued, for once coming up with something clever.

All four of them thought about this quietly for a minute.

"Then it's alright. I think reading and learning is fun," Donny told them with a smile, and went back to reading.

"But we want you to play with us," Raph said, starting to look mad. For some reason, Donny not wanting to play with him made him angry.

"I play with you guys all the time. I want to read," Donny told Raph, a whine coming out at the end.

"Fine, stay here and read like a baby," Raph shot at him.

"Babies don't read. In fact, you're more like a baby since you can't read," Donny insulted angrily, showing his rare anger.

"I can too read," Raph yelled. "And at least I don't have to run around with a teddy bear all the time. Baby!"

"No I am not!" Donny shouted back, his book forgotten.

With a deft quickness, Raphael snatched Donatello's stuffed bear out of his brother's arms, a sneaky grin on his face.

"Hey, Raph. Give that back. It's mine," Donny cried out, grabbing for his toy friend. As Raph danced away, he followed, grabbed and jumped after the bear, but it was always out of his reach.

"Oh, what are you going to do, baby? Cry?" Raph teased, reaching to his full height to keep the toy out of reach.

And that's what Donny was about to do. He didn't want them to, but tears started coming to his eyes. He wished they would go away, for he knew Raphael would just tease him more. But then he stepped back away from Raph, and turned away from him. He picked up his book as if he was going back to reading.

"Ah, doesn't the baby want his bear back?" Raph snickered.

"Raph, stop it," Leo commanded, stepping up to his brother and shoving him away. "Just leave him alone." Leo knew that out of the four of them, Donny was more sensitive about certain things. And he was the older brother, and he felt responsible to keep the peace between them.

"Make me," Raph growled at Leo, pushing him harder but still keeping the bear out of Donny's reach.

Donatello, noticing Leo standing up for him, stopped grabbing for his bear. There was too much tension, and Donny didn't know what to do.

Leonardo stared Raphael down as the younger turtle went into a stance. Their father had been teaching them more moves for their ninja training. They were already learning different punches and kicks, but weren't sparring yet. But what Raph was doing was obvious that he wanted to fight this one out. Leonardo thought about that for a moment. What would Splinter think? He taught them that a ninja doesn't fight all the time. He chooses his battles, and only fights when he needs to. But he also said ninjas fight for the weak.

But was Donatello weak? No, Leo knew his brother wasn't that. But he didn't seem willing to fight for the bear. Already Donny was backing away with wide eyes at the thought of his brothers fighting.

Not to mention, he pushed Raph first. He was wrong there, but it was just a push. They did it all the time. But what Raph was doing was real fighting. Did Raph see him as the investigator of the fight?

Was it better to fight Raph or not? What was the right answer?

Raphael started circling Leo, just as they did in training, and Leo automatically dropped into a defensive stance. Raphael made the first move, and kicked at Leo. Leo just blocked the kick, but didn't do anything more. Raphael then punched at Leo's shoulder, and Leo just ducked. The more Leo dodged and blocked, the more anger Raph felt.

"Raphael! Leonardo! Stop!"

The sharp voice of their father made them freeze as they were, eyes widening.

"I have told you that you will never raise a hand to one of your brothers," Splinter shouted louder and angrier than they had ever heard him. "You must not fight each other. Not ever!"

"It's all Raph's fault," Leo accused and pointed to his brother.

"He started it. He pushed me," Raph said in his defense.

"He stole Donny's bear, and was calling him. . ."

"I don't care what was going on. You do not fight with each other." Splinter's usually quiet voice roared at them, and the two shirked back. "Do you understand me?"

As Splinter rebuked the two fighting brothers, Donatello used the chance to creep up to Raphael unnoticed, and snatched it back.

Automatically, Raphael tried to get the bear back, despite Splinter being right behind him. When he couldn't get a grip on the bear, he grabbed Donatello's empty hand. Hard.

Donatello felt pain in his wrist, and defended himself. He threw a punch at Raphael as hard as he could. The power of the punch knocked Raphael down on his shell. Raphael was dazed, but not in too much pain. It was lucky for him that Donatello used the fist that was full of his toy bear, so Raphael only was hit with stuffing.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Splinter roared more terribly than before.

All four turtles turned to him in fear.

"The three of you, go stand in separated corners. I don't want to hear a word from any of you until I know what do to with you. Now go!" Splinter shouted, pointing a clawed hand in the air.

Leo and Raph immediately turned with resigned body language to do as he said, but Donatello didn't move for a minute. Tears were coming to his eyes. He hadn't done anything wrong? He wasn't fighting. He just wanted to read his book. Then Raphael came to tease him and take his bear away. He planned to ignore Raph for a while until his brother became tired of teasing him and put the bear down. But Leo stepped in and they started fighting. It wasn't Leo's fault either. Why was Splinter punishing them all? Raph should be the one to be punished. It wasn't fair.

"Donatello, did you hear me? Go to the corner," Splinter commanded.

Donatello was quiet for a while, but then shook his head. "No," he said quietly.

"Donatello, I said go," Splinter demanded, his voice getting louder again.

"No!" Donny shouted, his face scrunched up as he tried not to cry.

"Donatello!"

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Donny whailed. He held onto his bear, grabbed his book and ran to the bedroom still screaming.

Splinter was so surprised, his anger melted away. He had expected resistance from Raphael, and even a justification from Leonardo, but not from Donatello. Not from his sweet, soft spoken and passive Donatello. What had happened here? He decided to find out.

"You two, not a word," Splinter warned at the two punished turtles, and followed after the third.

He could hear sobbing behind the door. Slowly he opened the door to the turtle's room and found Donatello on his bed, under the covers.

"What is wrong, my son?" Splinter asked, gently.

"Go away," Donatello muttered from under his blanket.

"What is it?" Splinter tried again, and put a hand on his son's back.

Donatello just cried something that Splinter couldn't understand, and then went back to sobbing.

Splinter sighed. He thought that maybe Donatello was just too emotional right now to talk, and decided that maybe leaving him alone for a while would be the best thing. He left the turtle's room, and went back to Leonardo and Raphael, both looking quite regretful.

"As for you two, I do believe that the bathroom need to be cleaned," Splinter said menacingly at his children with hands on his hips.

* * *

Lavinya sat at the dining table alone, craning with her ears to find out what was going on. She didn't leave, since she felt it wasn't her place to get involved with Splinter's parenting. But still, she couldn't help but strain to figure out what was going on. She heard yelling, but most of it was incomprehensible and everything else was just too quiet for her to hear. Eventually, things became silent, and within ten minutes of leaving the room, Splinter returned to the dining area.

"Is everything alright?" Lavinya asked, looking worried.

Splinter sat down with a tired sigh. "Boys," was the only thing he grumbled.

Lavinya wasn't sure what to say, and the atmosphere felt awkward.

"I believe that you're right," Splinter said at last.

"About what?"

"I do need to know my boys better," Splinter said. "I realize that I may not know them as much as I thought I did."

"Why? What happened?" Lavinya queried, realizing that whatever happened just a few minutes ago affected Splinter.

Splinter thought back on how he and Lavinya were just talking about how to improve Donatello's learning, and now he was going to talk about how to talk about his son's problems. The same son that was doing so well earlier was now fighting with his brothers and throwing a tantrum. And Splinter had no idea why.

"Something happened, and I'd like to know why," Splinter told Lavinya. And it wasn't easy to talk about this to her.

And it looked like thing weren't going to get any easier.

* * *

Raphael grumbled as he lugged a bucket full of pine-scented hot water mixed with cleaner to the bathroom. On his way there, he could hear Donatello moving around in their room. His blood started to feel hot in his veins, making him want to yell at his brother for not being punished like he was.

Raphael set the bucket down, and opened the door.

"I guess babies don't get punished," Raphael said in a whisper.

From under his covers, Donatello give his brother an angry frown. "Shut up, Raph. I'm not a baby."

"I heard you bawling and screaming like a baby. A big spoiled baby," Raphael added with an evil grin.

"I'm smarter. So does that make you dumber than a baby," Donny shot back. "Get out of my room."

"Oh yeah. I can do a lot of things you can't. And I'm not such a scaredy-cat that can't go anywhere without his little bear," Raph hissed angrily.

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too! I bet you couldn't sleep all by yourself. Without a nightlight. And without your stupid bear," Raph argued, and crossed his arms.

"I could too," Donny shouted, his body tense.

"No you couldn't. You're too much of a baby," Raph said, and stuck his tongue out. "I'll leave you alone so you can take your baby nap." Raph slammed the door.

Donatello picked up his pillow to throw at Raphael, but the door closed too soon, and the lumpy white bundle plopped to the floor.

"I could too," Donny said quietly to himself. He crossed his legs and thought things out.

It wouldn't be too hard to get away. Splinter was talking to Lavie, and Raph and Leo were cleaning. All he'd have to do is contend with Mikey, and that shouldn't be too hard. Mentally, he made a list of things he needed. But the biggest problem would be to carry all of them.

Then he remembered Leonardo's red wagon. Splinter had given it to Leo last Christmas. Donny had a few doubts about taking it, but maybe he could leave a note to explain. After all, Leo was very nice and usually would share his stuff anyway.

Donny folded up everything he needed into his blanket, along with his pillow. He then load everything up into the wagon in a very organized manner. Then he went over his mental list. There were a few more things he needed, but they weren't in his room. The biggest thing was food.

And Splinter was at the dinning table. He'd have to sneak past Splinter and Lavinya to get to it. But then he remembered that Lavinya had brought their weekly groceries. She had left them in the living room to be put away later. He could easily grab a few things, and soon be on his way.

It didn't take him long to sneak back into the living room and grab a few pieces of bread, an apple, a few fruit snacks and a box of cookies. After he had the food, he grabbed a few more things he needed. All this time, he kept a close eye out for anyone to walk in on him as well as on his way back to his room.

Now with all his provisions secured in the wagon, he was ready to begin. He was able to leave, when he remembered to leave a note on his bed to explain where he was going, that he'll be back tomorrow, and that he was sorry for borrowing Leo's wagon without asking.

Then with a wave to his teddy bear left behind on his bed, he carefully inched out of his room with the stealth of a ninja in training with Leo's wagon in tow. The wagon was a little squeaky, but Donny went slowly. He was just out of the lair's door when he jumped at a loud voice asking, "Where are you going?"

Donny quickly turned to find Mikey staring at him with curious eyes. He put a finger to his lips for silence.

"Shhhh, Mikey. Don't tell anyone, but I'm going to spend the night in the sewers. All by myself," Donny told the youngest turtle.

Mikey's eyes grew wide. "All by yourself."

"Yep."

"Can I come?"

"No, Mikey. Then I wouldn't be all by myself."

"Oh," Mikey said, and looked at his brother sadly.

"Don't tell anyone, okay Mikey," Donny said. "Please."

"Okay. I won't tell anyone," Mikey promised.

"Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay. Have fun," Mikey said happily, and waved as his brother quickly walked away.

* * *

Donatello didn't go far until he picked a tunnel to turn down. But before he went further along, he pulled out a piece of chalk that Lavinya gave them for their chalk boards.

Long ago, Donatello remembered a time he was walking with Splinter in the sewers, and he spotted a chalk mark on the sewer walls. Splinter said that human workers had done that so that they wouldn't get lost in the sewers. The mark wouldn't last long. It usually would wash away after the next rainfall.

Donny used the chalk to write an "R" on the sewer wall, to tell him that he turned right into the tunnel. Now when Donny was ready to come home, he would know what direction he came from. Donny smiled at how clever he had been. His brothers had a hard time navigating through the sewers most of the time, but Donny figured a way he could do it all by himself. He was also determined to go to a part of the sewers that he didn't know, just to prove how grown-up and brave he was.

This might even be fun.

* * *

"Let me talk to Donny," Lavinya said, patting Splinter's hairy hand. "Maybe he'll talk to me, and I can figure out what happened."

"Yes, please talk to him," Splinter said readily. "I don't think he would talk to me. I shouldn't have lost my temper."

"It'll be alright. I'll see what I can do," Lavinya said quietly, and made her way to the turtle's bedroom. She lightly tapped on the door before opening it. "Donny, are you okay?" She opened the door more to see where he was, but when she didn't see him she opened the door all the way.

"Donny?" she called in a loud voice, scanning the room. "Where are you?" Thinking that he was hiding, she looked under all the beds and in all the hidden corners. But there was no sign of Donny. And then she noticed Donny's bear. Thinking that it was odd to see the toy without the turtle, she went over to it. And that's when she noticed the note. Picking up the little piece of paper, she read the simple letter.

_"Dear Father,_

_ I am going to sleep away from home for one night. Please don't worry about me. I will be back tomorrow. And please tell Leo that I'm sorry for borrowing his wagon. I'll take good care of it._

_ Love_

_ Donny"_

Lavinya couldn't help but notice how good Donny's spelling and grammar was. The note was very well done. However, the content was worrying.

Without delay, Lavinya ran to Splinter to show him the note.

Splinter read the note three times, the first two times he felt numb. The third time, it really registered to him that Donny was gone.

"Quickly," Splinter ordered in his soft voice. "He shouldn't have gone too far. Maybe we can find him before he goes very far."

The rat and the young woman ran out of the lair, each going in a different direction while yelling the young turtling's name. Splinter looked around with his sharp eyes and sniffed with his nose, looking for any sign of his son. However, there was just so many scent trails of Donatello and his others sons that he wasn't able to tell which was the freshest and which to follow.

Lavinya just ran in a straight line, shouting for Donny. She was very afraid of getting lost herself in the sewers, and tried to stay close to the lair. She was so nervous that her eyes skipped right over the chalked letter that Donny had written, running past the tunnel without a thought. It was a mistake since she might have heard the sound of squeaky wagon wheels echoing down the tunnel.

* * *

At first, Donny was scared of the dark empty tunnels. He had taken an oil lamp with enough oil for the night, flashlight and extra batteries, but he was still scared. He was alone. If something happened to him,what would he do?

And then he heard his name being called. He felt adrenaline surge through his system at the thought of being caught. He started pumping his little turtle legs as fast as he could while pulling the wagon. At that moment, the thought of being taken back home and seeing Raph's smirk was worse than being all by himself.

But even with his running, he still remembered to stop once in a while to make a mark with his chalk, even if he didn't turn down another tunnel. When he slowed down to catch his breath, Donny looked around at his surroundings. He was close to water, he could hear it from the tunnel's echo. Not wanting to camp out near running water, he moved away from the sound. After a while, he found a spot that he thought was perfect to stay for the night. There was a tiny little tunnel he could crawl into that was just his size. And best of all, there was a sewer grate above him that opened up to the surface. He wouldn't have to use his lamp and flashlight so much while it was daylight.

Feeling better about his choice spot, Donny started to unpack. He took his blanket and pillow to the tunnel and made his bed. He took out the few books he brought with him, and set them on his new bed. Then he pulled out the few photos he owned. Lavinya had given them all photos, and Donny was able to keep a few as his own. Carefully, he pinned them as best he could in the tunnel where he could see them. For a while, he lay on his bed and looked at the pictures.

He felt sad. He was already missing his family. Even Raph. And he wasn't even gone an hour!

Donny crawled out of his temporary bed, shaking off the home sickness. He needed to keep busy, or he was going to start crying for Splinter like a baby. And that was the last thing he needed.

He thought about what he would be doing right now if he was still at home. Their routine at home was pretty fixed. They did warm-up exercises first thing in the morning, then after breakfast Splinter would teach them reading and writing. They'd take a break for ninja lessons, then lunch. After lunch, Splinter let them play for a while, and then it was back to lessons. Splinter would read to them from a history book, and then teach them math. After math, another play break. And then. . .

"Oh yeah. We'd be meditating about now," Donny said after his reflection.

The small turtle sat in front of his tunnel entrance in a lotus position, placing his wrists softly on his knees. He breathed slowly in and out, calming his body and mind. He went through the mental exercises that Splinter had taught him, going further into a relaxed state. This not only made his fears go away, but once he was finished meditating, he felt more independent. He was able to do his ninja exercises on his own.

Just to prove this further, he went through some of the moves he knew. He even performed a perfect round house kick.

Donatello whooped with glee. This wasn't so bad.

Then his stomach growled.

Looking up at the sewer grate, he noticed that the sun had moved down quite a bit. How long had he been meditating?

"Time for dinner," Donny told himself. He pulled out his food and the latest chapter book he was reading, and settled himself down for a while.

It wasn't long before the surface's light was too dim to read by. Donny was surprised with how quickly the day was going. Not wanting to stop reading his book, he lighted the oil lamp with a match and started reading once more. He hardly noticed the darkness creeping further into the sewers and cast strange shadows all around.

* * *

Night fell, and they still hadn't found Donatello. After questioning the other turtles, the adults learned about Raph fighting with his brother and practically daring him to go off on his own. Then Mikey spoke up about seeing Donny leave and his promise not to say anything.

Splinter was angry at Raph for goading Donny into going through with this stunt, but by the look of the turtle's face he didn't expect his brother to follow through with the taunt. After that, Raph had been quiet for the rest of the day.

Splinter and Lavinya continued to take turns going down the tunnels and calling Donny's name until Splinter forced Lavinya to leave. The human was about ready to stay all night long to look, even with her early class in the morning, but Splinter would have none of it. Since then, the rat had come to the conclusion that he might have to wait until the next day when Donatello said he would return. Or maybe he'd come home since it was now dark. Either way, Splinter sent the remaining three turtles to bed before setting up a bed on the couch for himself. He was going to make sure that if his son came home that night, he would be there to know when he came home.

But Splinter might as well not to have bothered. He couldn't sleep. He just tossed and turned on the couch, jumping up at every little noise. Finally, he turned on the light and set the tea kettle on the stove for a nice, hot drink.

"Father."

Splinter turned around to find Raphael half-hiding in the hallway to his bedroom.

"My son, what are you doing up?"

"I can't sleep."

"So it seems. Come here, and have some tea with me."

Raphael padded to the dinning table and sat down.

Splinter poured the hot water, and then put a tea bag into each mug.

The two sipped their tea in silence.

"I'm really sorry that I teased Donny," Raphael told Splinter in between sips.

Splinter was silent for a while after that, as he thought about what to say. Then he asked, "Why were you teasing Donny? Why were you fighting?"

"Because Donny wouldn't play with us," Raph answered looking ashamed.

Splinter mulled over this before asking another question. "Why were you so angry about that? Were you not playing with Michelangelo and Leonardo?"

"Yeah, but I wanted Donny to play with us."

"And why is that?" Splinter pushed on.

Raph thought about it for a while. "Because he's really fun to play with. He and Mikey are really good at making up games, and I like being on his team. He has some great plans so we can win," Raph talked animatedly. Then he looked down. "And I miss him. He's always reading his dumb books."

Splinter raised an eyebrow. Now things are making sense. "So, you tried to make Donatello play with you, and you became mad."

"Yeah."

So that was it. Raphael was afraid that his brother was going to stop playing with him all together. Splinter thought about the two brothers. Out of his sons, there could be none that are so different than Raphael and Donatello.

Raphael is a turtle lead by his feelings. He acts on them so quickly that sometimes he doesn't really know what he is doing. And sometimes he doesn't know how to express himself with words, but only with actions. He also was one who disliked changes. He was the last to accept Lavinya, and protested the most whenever Splinter changed their routine or added lessons.

And then there was Donatello. He was shy at first, but that quickly melted away due to his curiosity. He was constantly asking questions, wanting to know more and more. And even with all his questions, he did so quietly and calmly. But beyond that, Donatello's emotions were sometimes unreadable. He was able to adapt to changes and new things quickly enough that it sometimes seemed as if he had no opinion on the matter.

It's not wonder that they have so much trouble between each other.

But Splinter could tell that Raph loved his brother. Out of all of them, Raph's love for his brothers seemed the strongest if not the most gentle. He had a tough skin, and didn't seem to know that his brothers weren't the same.

"Now Donny won't ever play with me," Raph said sadly with head hung low. By now he had forgotten to drink his tea, but was content just to hold it.

"I don't think so," Splinter told his son. "I believe that Donatello likes to play with you just as much as you like to play with him."

"Then why didn't he want to play with me today?"

"Donatello is finding other interests and hobbies that he'd like to do sometimes," Splinter explained gently. "He'll want to do other things, but I don't believe he'll stop playing with you and your brothers. It just won't be every time you want him to."

"Oh," Raphael muttered, thinking this over. "I guess that's okay that Donny likes to read sometimes. It's kind of like how sometimes I don't want to play board games with Lavie."

"That's right, Raphael," Splinter said, smiling down at his son.

That's when Raph started to yawn. "I'm tired."

"It is very late. Get to bed, my son," Splinter said, and took Raphael's hand to lead him back to the bedroom.

"Father?"

"Yes, Raphael."

"You should sleep, too. Donny's smart. He'll come back tomorrow," Raphael said tiredly, but with a sureness that Splinter didn't have.

"Yes, he is. I hope that you are right," Splinter said.

The two said good-night, and Raphael went back to bed. Splinter felt himself grow tired as well. He went back to the couch, and immediately fell asleep.

* * *

Donatello nervously started getting ready for bed. He didn't know how long he'd been up or what time it was. He wished that he had brought a clock with him on this trip. He had been so involved in his book that he just had to finish it. But once he closed the cover, the darkness filled his chest with dread. The sounds of the sewers and the surface made him feel jumpy, and the shadows cast by his oil lamp made him want to watch every corner at once. He quickly put all his things away and made sure the wagon was secure. Then he was ready to climb into bed.

But he really needed to go to the bathroom.

It should have been easy to find some place, being in the sewers and all. But Donatello didn't want to go somewhere near his camp site where he might accidentally step in it. So he picked up his flashlight and off down the path again to find a secluded place.

When his flashlight fell upon a large pile of junk, Donatello screamed. The high pitch echo bounced a few times down the tunnel before it disappeared. By that time, the young turtle had calmed down and went closer to see what he had found.

For some odd reason, the humans had used that spot to dump a large pile of junk. It wasn't unusual. The turtles had often found random items in the sewers. But this was a very large pile, stacked almost to the ceiling.

Donatello quickly did his business before coming back to search through the lot. Most of it was old, torn clothing, nothing out of the ordinary. There wasn't a lot of garbage and old food, so nothing stank too bad. It was probably eaten by rats and bugs earlier. The majority of the pile was broken bits and pieces of electrical equipment and spare parts. There was even an old car engine, oil leaking from the bottom.

But the thing that had Donny's attention was a small TV that was on the side, a dirty sheet draped over half of it. Donny went over to it, and looked at it closely with the help of his flashlight. The front of the TV looked to be in good condition. However when he shined the light behind the TV, he could see that the back had been taken off and the insides were exposed. Inside was dirty and grimy, and some of the wires were worn or cut. Interested, Donny looked at the insides for a very long time.

After a quick decision, Donatello ran back to his camp site for the wagon, pulling it back, his fear gone. Carefully, and with much effort, Donatello put the TV in the back of the wagon, making sure all the wires and TV's back was in before he wheeled it back to his camp site.

The young turtle was glad he had brought the electrical guide with him on his camping trip, since it was the only knowledge he had. Although the manual didn't say anything about TVs, it did have a lot of tips on how to fix broken or frayed wires, and safety instructions. Donatello used his chalk to draw a few pictures on the ground as well as a list of things he needed for his project. He wanted to go back to the junk pile to find those item when he started yawning. He was tempted to continue on, but he started to shiver as well. The sewers were getting colder.

Donatello crawled into bed after turning down the oil lamp to its lowest setting. A small amount of light cast itself around the sewer, enough for him to crawl into bed. And if he sat up, he could see the outline of the TV with it's rabbit ear-like antenna.

* * *

The morning dawned and there was still no sign of Donatello. The family grew increasingly more worried.

In a different part of the sewers, the small turtle awoke with ease. He stretched and yawned. For a while, he forgot where he was. But spotting the broken TV by the wagon made him forget everything else and he jumped out of bed.

Immediately he went to the junk pile to look for the things that he needed. He found a few broken tools, but they still met his needs. He took screws from other electronics as well as new wires. He found a few strips of electrical tape around a vacuum cord, and lastly ripped a few pieces of cloth. Taking these things back, he set to work.

First he cleaned the dust and grime from the inside, careful not to jiggle anything loose in the process. He used a little of his drinking water to wet the rags, but not too much. Then he started using the tape to fix the holes in the wire covering and electrical cord. The wires that were frayed or cut, he started replacing with the ones he found.

Time passed quickly, and he completely forgot about home. It wasn't until his stomach started to ache from not eating that Donny realized that he'd been awake for hours, and he still hadn't had breakfast. He ate his remaining fruit snack and some cookies to satisfy himself.

Only then did he think of going home. But he felt conflicted about leaving the pile of junk which proved to be a treasure trove to him. He could possibly come back later by following his chalk signs. But what if it rains sometime soon and they get washed away?

And once again, Donny thought of a way to solve his problem.

He ran over to the junk pile for a piece of black cloth. He made sure it was big enough that he could draw a map with the chalk of the sewers to find his way back to the junk pile.

Feeling very proud of himself, Donny packed up the wagon. He first put the TV in the little cart with all its parts and the broken tools he found, then arranged the rest of his stuff around it. Taking a look back, he looked around his camp ground for anything he forgot and to also remember his time alone. He was hesitant, but eventually he turned around and left with his chalk and cloth in one hand.

* * *

Splinter started to worry as soon as he awoke. Donatello wasn't back yet. It was just like the time Leo had become lost, and he did not know what to do. Should he go out looking for the lost son? But some how it didn't feel right. As nervous as he was about Donatello being gone, he knew that his son would come home that day. He just didn't know when.

He wasn't sure how he knew this, but he did. Something about Donatello's note told him that whatever reason his son left, it was something that needed to be done.

But feelings still felt conflicted since he wanted to do something, but he was sure that he shouldn't do anything.

Splinter sighed heavily, and went about preparing breakfast.

Soon the other turtles were up, asking him if their brother was home. When they each found out, they moped around until Splinter made them do their early morning exercises.

The day passed on with agonizing slowness. All four of the residents of the lair acted like caged animals, not really angry at each other, but restless and feeling enclosed. Eventually, they waited in the living room, wanting to move around but not feeling up to it.

It wasn't until Splinter picked up a sound with his sharp ears did they start to move. It sounded like squeaky wheels coming through the tunnel. In a moment, he was on his feet.

The three turtles followed after. They peered around their father's body when he stopped in the lair's doorway. It didn't take them long to spot a short, stout body coming down the sewer with a red wagon at his tail.

"It's Donny!" Mikey was the first to yell. His words set everyone off running toward the missing turtle.

Donny ran to meet them, engulfed into a large hug. Everyone was talking at once, asking questions while Donatello tried to explain where he had been. Eventually Splinter hushed them all, and they went back to their home so they could sit as the young explorer told his story. And more than once did everyone glance at the TV set in the wagon.

The tale didn't take much time to tell since not much really happened. The one thing the Donatello spoke a lot about was the TV set and how much fun he had repairing it. Altogether, they gathered around the wagon as the turtle explained what he had done with it. Splinter made a comment how impressed he was with his son for his curiosity and his problem solving abilities, not just with the TV but using the chalk to his advantage.

After Donatello had told all, their father announced it was time for lunch and sent the turtles to start some of their chores in the meantime. They all complied, but Raphael drifted toward his brother Donny.

"Hey, Donny?" Raph said softly. "I'm sorry about those things I said. I don't think you're a baby."

"It's alright, Raph," Donny said, not really holding a grudge for it. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have gone off by myself. It was fun."

Raph smiled. "Then maybe next time, you should bring me along. We could tell ghost stories," he said, softly teasing his brother.

"Yeah, that'll be fun," Donny said. "We should also try making a basket for basketball. I think I know how to do that. We could play as a team against Mikey and Leo."

Raph's smile grew wider. "That'll be great. Can I help?"

"Yeah. I'll show you the junk pile too."

The two brothers continued to talk as they helped each other with their chores, both understanding each other more and more.

* * *

"Donny! You're back."

Those were the first words Lavinya said when she came down to the lair to check up on the mutant family.

"Lavie," Donny called, and ran to give her legs a hug. "I went camping in the sewers. It's okay."

"Oh, is it. Well, next time do it in a way that doesn't make me worry, okay?" she asked.

"Okay," Donny told her, looking down. He then went back to the TV, putting the screws with a bent screwdriver. Once he was finished, he moved the TV closer to the wall.

"What are you doing?" Lavinya asked, looking closely at the turtle's project.

"I found a TV, and I'm fixing it," he said, and plugged the TV into an electrical outlet. He turned it on.

The screen lightened up, and showed a black and white fuzzy screen. Loud static poured out of the speakers.

"Darn," Donatello said sadly. "It's still not working."

Lavinya shook her head. "It's working, sweetie. You're just not getting any reception. Those rabbit ears probably don't work down here. You'll have to plug a cable into it."

"Cable?" Donny asked.

Lavinya showed him the cable plug in the back of the TV, and found the cable outlet in the wall, explaining that would be the only way they could see TV down there. She then promised to bring one down soon. As Donatello ran off with a happy smile, she wondered at the young turtle. He was only six years old, and he was already fixing TVs.

But Donatello didn't stop there. In the next couple of weeks, he was looking at, taking apart and putting together any kind of electronic he could get his three fingered hands on. He read all the books Lavinya could find for him on electronics, eating it up. He was given time to himself for these little projects. During that time, Splinter and Lavinya tried to give the other turtles arts and craft projects they could do while their brother was off on his own hobby.

Soon, Donatello's new skills had benefited everyone in the lair. They soon had TV, although it only had three channels. The young turtle fixed a phone as well, making it so they could call out to Lavinya, even if she couldn't call back since they didn't know their phone number.

After a few months of this growth of his mind, Lavinya brought down a surprise. She had two full boxes in her arms, and dropped them heavily on the sewer floor.

"Here you go, Donny," she said, with hands on her hips.

"What are these?" Donny asked. He opened them up, and exclaimed excitedly as they were all filled with appliances. He picked a few up, looking at them. They were all newer than the ones he found in the junk yard.

"These are all the appliances you've torn apart in my apartment," Lavinya told him, a wry smile on her face. "And you're going to fix them now that you know how."

Everyone laughed at that, none more than Donatello. He was happy to finally be able to do something for his loved ones.

That night, after working until Splinter ordered him to bed, he snuggled into his bed. It was then that he looked up at the shelf above his head, and saw two fuzzy feet sticking out. He sat up and pulled his teddy bear off the shelf. He hadn't been taking it everywhere since that night he slept outside of the lair. Most of the time, he even forgot it was there. But he didn't feel so bad, even though it was an old friend. He didn't need to have the bear's companionship all the time. He was more confident, and wasn't so scared of the dark. He had other things on his mind besides creatures that go bump in the night.

However, for old times sake. He put the bear on his pillow so that it could watch him as he slept. He closed his eyes, and slept peacefully.


End file.
